Skies As Grey As Battleships
by Falcitrix
Summary: AU. Unova's involvement in a worldwide war places stress and restrictions on the entire region. When Touya and Touko are forced to move to Castelia, they come face to face with the effects of war and all the resistance and discontent it breeds. And as leader of the anti-government organization Team Plasma, N has plans of his own for the Unova region. N/Touya.
1. A Letter Long Expected

**Pairing: **N/Touya

**Warnings*: **Slash, mild language, and violence.

**Spoilers: **If you've beaten the main story of BW, you're fine. There may also be eventual minor spoilers for B2W2.

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon definitely does not belong to me.

In case you missed it, this fic is majorly AU. Most differences are glaringly obvious, though there are many that are not outrightly stated.

*** **These warnings apply to the _entire_ fic. Chapters with anything really disturbing will be given chapter-specific warnings.

* * *

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 1: A Letter Long Expected -**

The sky over Nuvema Town was a monochrome patchwork, a result of the ice-grey sunlight fighting its way through gunmetal clouds. Touya squinted up at the swirling grey masses, trying to figure out whether they were wisps of smoke blown in from the Castelia factories or simply signs of a coming storm. Not that it really mattered in the long run; cloud-watching was cloud-watching, after all.

He stretched out his arms, feeling the cool grass and damp soil beneath him. He continued staring at the clouds, creating increasingly nonsensical shapes out of the sky's behemoths. Fully intending to stay outside until dinner, Touya frowned faintly when his question about the clouds was answered and he was hit with a sudden deluge of water. Scooping up his rudely-awakened Oshawott into his arms, he sprinted towards his house, hastily knocking on the door and ignoring the fact that he was already soaked and so a couple more seconds wouldn't hurt him in the slightest.

Touko opened the door, failing to hide a giggle at the sight of her thoroughly drenched brother. When she saw Oshawott's disgruntled and confused expression, she didn't even bother to conceal her amusement. Touya could've sworn that her Tepig even snorted along with her.

"It's not _that_ funny," Touya huffed, setting Oshawott down on the floor. Oshawott immediately set his eyes on Tepig, clinging to the heat-emitting Pokemon with zero intention of letting go any time soon. Tepig looked briefly annoyed as its metal collar clanged against the wooden floor, but soon settled down with a noise that sounded suspiciously like a resigned sigh.

"It..." Touko laughed, "it kind of is. You look li - oh!" She halted mid-sentence, evidently remembering something important.

"A letter came today."

"Is it from Cheren or Bianca?"

Cheren and Bianca were the only people Touya could think of who would send the two of them a letter. Bianca had been writing almost every other day - the rate at which she churned out letters was almost scary, actually. She hadn't taken the forced separation from her hometown terribly well. Though she tried to hide it, the bitterness in her letters was clearly evident.

Cheren didn't write nearly as often, mostly because being in the army didn't allow for much free time. Touya might have been worried sick about Cheren's safety, but that didn't prevent him from being impressed that Cheren had managed to finagle his way into the national army, given that he was still a few months below the minimum age limit of sixteen.

"Neither," replied Touko, her face growing serious and even slightly worried. Touya felt a chill creep down his spine.

"It's from the government."

"Have you opened it yet?" Touya asked, practically choking the words out.

"No," Touko fished the letter out from one of her pockets, "I thought we could open it together." She glanced quickly at Touya, gauging his reaction.

"Can I read it?" she asked slowly, carefully tearing open the letter when Touya nodded. Each found a seat, and Oshawott hopped up on Touya's lap while Tepig wiggled himself into a standing position.

"Touko and Touya Shiroguro," Touko taking a deep breath, "You have been drafted for work in the Castelia factories. Please arrive in Castelia no later than three days upon receiving this letter. Further information will be provided upon your arrival.

"And remember," Touko continued to read, eyes narrowing, "your compliance is mandatory."

Touko rolled her eyes, flipping the the paper around to show to Touya.

"Oh, wonderful, it even has Crane's photocopied signature on it," she spat, balling the letter into a crumpled mess and chucking it angrily to the floor.

"I'm not going."

"Touko..." Touya started, working to keep his voice level, "we have to."

"I don't want to go! I don't want to leave Nuvema, my friends, and Mom behind!" Tears pinpricked at the corner of her eyes.

"Do you think I want to go, either?" Extremely difficult to anger and generally level-headed, Touya was a stranger to yelling and screaming. Instead, his voice took on a cold edge, one that Touko recognized immediately.

"Sorry," she looked away from Touya, embarrassed for her behaviour and for upsetting her brother. "I didn't... I didn't mean to make you upset. But ..."

"I know," Touya interjected, calmer and almost apologetic himself, "It's just, there's no point in panicking now. Right?"

Touko nodded, wiping away the tears that had gathered. Then she closed her eyes, breathed in, and grinned.

"You're absolutely correct, Touya! Everything'll be fine." As quickly as it had changed before, her expression shifted again, her smile growing increasingly crestfallen.

"We have to tell Mom. I... I don't want to tell her."

"We could wait until morning," Touya offered, though if he was being honest with himself he would have preferred to tell her as soon as she walked in the door. It wasn't that he found the idea exactly thrilling; he just would have liked to get it over with.

"Thanks," Touko smiled. " But I know you'd rather not, so we'll go ahead and do it over dinner."

Touya, slightly taken aback, started to protest, but was quickly cut off by Touko.

"You dry off - I'll get started on dinner."

"I could - " Touya started to protest, but Touko, already halfway out of the room, continued walking at a brisk pace towards the kitchen.

"Nope! Besides, it's my turn, anyway."

* * *

Having since changed into a set of dry clothes, Touya was now faced with deciding on what to do for the next twenty minutes. Fighting the urge to offer his sister help - she preferred doing things herself, and would inevitably shoot him down fairly quickly - he settled for collapsing on the worn sofa and switching on the television.

Channel-surfing proved relatively unsuccessful; as usual, any given program was either heavily propagandized politics or news, or made for children. Or both, which Touya had always found disturbing.

Eventually he gave up, switching to the least-biased news channel he knew of. He watched as snippets of news rolled across the bottom screen, ranging from information on Orre's civil war to the ever-boring production statistics of Unova's factories to rumours about the Sevii Islands breaking their neutrality agreement. The reporter was currently covering a story about an underground Pokemon fighting ring that was recently busted by the police in Nimbasa City. Touya flinched slightly at hearing the news - he'd never seen any himself, but Pokemon fighting had always sounded horribly barbaric. After all, he figured, there was probably a good reason it was illegal outside of warfare.

A succession of knocks on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I'll answer it," he called to Touko, flicking off the television and opening the door.

"Welcome back, Mom," Touya said, managing a smile despite the heavy feeling of black dread beginning to pool in his stomach.

"Hi!" Touko greeted their mother enthusiastically, her sudden appearance at the doorway causing Touya to jump in surprise.

"Hello to both of you," their mother smiled in return.

"Dinner's almost ready if want to sit down," Touko offered before slipping back into the kitchen. Once Touko had left, Touya's mother turned to speak to him.

"Is everything alright?"

"Um," Touya stammered, caught completely off-guard.

Seeing his confused floundering, she offered, "Touko seems different than usual."

"Well, that's -"

"Hey!" Touko poked her head around the doorframe, glaring at both of them in mock annoyance. "Everything's ready, so come on!"

Upon seeing the steaming bowls of ramen laid out on the table, Touya laughed despite himself. Without fail, Touko always made the same dish - admittedly with occasional, minor variations - every time her turn came up. Mainly, this was because ramen was extremely difficult to mess up, which was important given Touko's past history with cooking.

It had taken a while before Touko'd had been willing to admit that her cooking skills left a lot to be desired. When they were younger it hadn't been unusual for her to present him, along with Cheren and Bianca, various baked goods in an attempt to prove that she was a better cook than Touya. None of them had the heart to tell her that cookies weren't actually supposed to be black, although Touya remembered when Cheren had evidently had enough and moved to open his mouth. Bianca had stepped on his foot, and, ignoring his incredibly foul look in her direction - an expression that still threatened to make Touya crack up just from the memory of it - had complimented Touko's baking. Years of friendship had only driven home the fact that it was incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for Bianca to say anything mean about anyone, period.

Though that had changed recently, if the tone she adopted in her letters was anything to go by. Being forcibly removed from her hometown and transferred to a factory for the war effort probably wasn't doing wonders for her optimism. In fact, Touya suspected that she was likely worse off than she let on; since all mail was monitored, writing anything remotely treasonous was definitely out of the question.

There was an awkward silence as Touko stopped talking and glanced at Touya, silently asking if now would be an acceptable time to broach the topic they'd both been dreading. Seeing no objection, Touko looked straight at her mother and began speaking, none of her earlier fears and hesitations present on her face.

"A letter came today," she started slowly, making sure her mother was paying attention. "It was from the government. Mom, Touya and I have to go the Castelia. We need to leave tomorrow to make it in time."

Touya shifted uncomfortably in the dead silence, and Touko waited a beat before continuing, hoping for a reply.

"We'll call every day, and I bet you can even come visit! We'll only be a couple days away, so..." she broke off, getting more nervous the longer her mother went without talking. "Mom?"

"I knew you two would have to leave eventually," their mother finally said, and despite the slightly resigned tone of her voice Touya felt like sighing in relief at simply hearing her say something. "I'm just glad you don't have to-" she cut off, eyes widening as the unspoken 'fight' hung in the air like an anvil poised to fall.

Father had been killed in the Great War years ago, when Touya and Touko were only four. Touya could barely remember that far back; his early childhood memories were relegated to hazy snippets flitting in and out of dreams. Touko was luckier in that regard - while few in number, the memories she possessed of their father were vivid and almost tangible.

When he had grown older and realized that his memories had all but faded, he had turned to his mother for stories about his late father. And after his mother and stared at him, eyes hollow and brimming with tears, apologizing -_ I can't, Touya, I can't talk about him _- he had approached his sister.

It hadn't taken long for the stories to cycle over and repeat, but Touya had never tired of hearing them. Touko had always been a wonderful storyteller - much better than he was - and even the most mundane memories had seemed important and fascinating when told by her.

"So am I," Touko laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Mom, you know that isn't going to happen."

No one pointed out that the both of them were only two months away from reaching the draft age.

"... Of course not," she conceded, a shaky smile back on her face. "Have you packed yet?"

"No," Touya offered, "Touko was busy with dinner, and I was doing... things," he finished lamely, thinking that instead of watching television he could have actually been doing something useful.

"You mean you were passed out on the couch with Oshawott," Touko giggled, punching Touya playfully on the shoulder.

"I was watching the news." He really hoped he didn't sound like a petulant child.

Touko rolled her eyes. "Well, no matter what you were doing, we've got to pack."

"Right."

"I'll clean up dinner if you'd like to start packing," their mother suggested. Touya began to protest and offer to help, when Touko all but dragged him out of the kitchen and into the hallway, yelling an energetic "Thanks!" on the way out. Noticing their owners leaving, Oshawott and Tepig, who had previously been dozing in the corner, both blinked drowsily and and stood up, racing after them.

Sighing in defeat, Touya followed his sister up the stairs, each entering their own room. Touya's room was painted a pale sky blue, a colour broken only by the occasional poster tacked to the wall. Bookshelves, all different shapes and varying shades of brown and grey, were pushed against the wall. A pile of neatly stacked sketchbooks lay next to a fairly ordinary night table supporting a lamp and alarm clock.

Oshawott hopped onto the bed, making himself comfortable amongst the dark blue sheets.

Touya pulled out a navy suitcase from his closet, dusty from disuse. He was just glad he wasn't stuck with a kid suitcase. Though Bianca had seemed perfectly happy with using her old pale pink Munna print suitcase, Touya was sure he wouldn't be nearly as thrilled under the same circumstances.

He plucked his clothes from the hangers, carefully folding and packing them away. Almost as an afterthought he threw in the only scarf he owned, a bright primary red and a gift from Touko for his thirteenth birthday. The loud colour - Touko's attempt to spice up his wardrobe with something that wasn't blue, white, or grey - had surprised him at first, but had grown on him to the point where he didn't mind wearing it.

After packing other necessities his suitcase was essentially stuffed, and he crammed in a couple of books, zipped it shut, and abandoned the suitcase at the foot of his bed. His messenger bag didn't have nearly as much room, but Touya still managed to fit his current sketchbook and a few other items inside.

Touya sunk onto the bed next to Oshawott, glancing at the clock next to him. It was later than he'd thought, but not really late enough to justify going to bed, ignoring the fact that he was completely exhausted from the day's events.

He closed his eyes, intending to grab a minute's respite before returning downstairs.

* * *

Touya woke up far too early to deal with a face full of sunlight and an Oshawott sprawled over his arm. The little Pokemon felt like a fuzzy tourniquet, and Touya quickly but gently slid his fast asleep limb out from under Oshawott. He wiggled his arm in attempt to restore circulation, spotting the imprint his Pokemon's collar had left on his arm. He'd always felt horrible about having to make Oshawott wear the metal band around his neck, as something so bulky surely couldn't be comfortable.

He noticed with faint surprise that someone had thrown a blanket over him, presumably to avoid the hassle of dragging him under the bed covers. He knew it was Touko's doing as soon as he saw the colour - the blanket had come from her room, sporting the same eye-popping red with a dash of pink as its walls.

Seeing the time of 5:37 on the clock, Touya sighed, and, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, rolled out of bed. He went through his usual morning routine, brushing his teeth before showering and changing. By the time he returned to his room his clock read six and Oshawott was half-awake, blinking blearily at him.

Touya picked up Oshawott and walked quietly down the stairs, not wanting to wake up his sleeping family members. He set his Pokemon on the floor when he reached the kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out a carton of milk.

The cabinets contained only one type of cereal - the off-brand, blueberry flavoured Tympole Triskeles were themed around the eponymous Pokemon. Touko had bought it because she'd found the little, malformed marshmallow Tympole heads hilarious, but as they floated forlornly around the bowl Touya began to think that they were slightly creepy.

"Morning!"

Touya came perilously close to choking on his cereal, sputtering something that sounded a bit pathetic and vaguely close to 'please stop sneaking up on me'.

"If you want people to stop surprising you, then you need to make it less fun for them," Touko laughed, snatching the open cereal box and pouring it into a nearby bowl. Evidently starving, she immediately began popping bits of it into her mouth, pausing every so often to not-so-subtly feed pieces to her Tepig, who oinked happily next to her chair.

Oshawott shot Touya a pitiful look, and suddenly feeling incredibly and irrationally guilty Touya tossed his Pokemon some of the cereal. In retrospect, he really should have put up a fight of some sort, he thought.

Like most mornings, Touya found it difficult to keep up with his sister. He was more of a night owl himself, and had never understood how someone could just _wake up_ energetic.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to leave now," Touko asked somewhat slowly, clearly hoping for an affirmative answer. "I think it'd be easier on all of us if we skipped the good-byes. Besides, it's not like we're going off to war, right? We'll be close by and able to keep in touch."

"Touya?" Touko prodded after a moment of silence.

The offer was definitely tempting, if Touya was being completely honest with himself. He was rarely skilled at dealing with comforting others, and he knew that if his mom started crying he'd soon follow, and then Touko would get upset because she hated seeing people cry and the whole thing would devolve into an emotional mess.

... But at the same time, the idea of absconding early in the morning without a farewell somehow managed to be an even more depressing prospect, and so Touya shook his head.

"Got it," replied Touko to his wordless rejection - he wasn't usually a big talker, and the morning exhaustion never helped. She didn't sound terribly thrilled and Touya felt a bit guilty for putting her through this, but for once she let it go and didn't fight him on the issue. If there was one trait they'd both inherited from their father, it was his sheer, unhalting stubbornness.

After fifteen or so minutes of mostly one-sided conversation, Touko cheerfully noted that the wait was definitely going to drive her insane and that it was pretty much time for their mother to get up anyway.

* * *

The half hour it took for the household to prepare for their imminent departure seemed far longer and far more painful than such a short amount of time had any right to be. With their suitcases in hand, Pokemon on their shoulders, and everyone gathered at the door, it all suddenly solidified and it hit Touya that this was, in fact, actually happening.

For a while, no one spoke. Touya shifted awkwardly, praying that Touko would break the silence. After a couple of seconds, his wish was granted.

"We're going to come back. This isn't permanent, we're not gone for good, and even while we're gone... well, with enough phone calls and letter writing, it'll be like we never left."

"And if no one cried right now, that would be wonderful and I'd really appreciate it," Touko joked, sporting her usual grin. Touya found himself smiling as well, and was glad that his mom was, too.

"I'll miss you both." Their mother hugged them, once individually and then together before letting them go.

"Have a safe journey."

"We will," Touko assured her, and Touya nodded in agreement.

"We'll call when we get there," Touya added.

"And write," Touko chimed in. "You'll have so many letters, you won't know what to do with them!"

After saying their goodbyes, the two stepped through the door and began the trek to Castelia.

Their mother waited until the door was firmly shut before she began to sob.

* * *

**A/N:** And so begins my first actual chapterfic that_ isn't_ just a series of one-shots. I've had this idea cooking for a while, and I finally pulled myself together and wrote the first chapter. The plan is to update every Sunday, but since I'm new to this chaptered story thing and I have a ton going on, realize that this may not actually happen. Worst case is that it'll be biweekly instead of weekly.

Anyway, N appears next chapter (which is, coincidentally, almost finished). There was just no way to fit him in the first chapter.

On a final note, the surname I gave Touya and Touko - Shiroguro - is just a mash-up of the Japanese word for "white" (_shiro_) and the Japanese word for "black" (_kuro_, which for linguistic reasons changes to _guro_).


	2. The Silver Maze

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 2: The Silver Maze -**

Castelia City was far, far larger than Touya had ever imagined. Though he was currently stuck inside a cramped, L-shaped building, the city had been impossible to miss on the approach from the bridge.

He moved ahead with the line. The Castelia checkpoint was definitely more crowded than any of the others he and Touko had gone through, but it was fortunately well-managed and fast-moving. He remembered how a worker at one of the Striaton gates had been convinced that he and Touko were terrorists, despite the fact that they had their identification, travel papers, and even their letter from the government.

After Touko had made a sarcastic comment that if they wanted to sneak into Castelia it'd be easier to hitch a ride on a boat and get in through the docks, the guard had nearly jailed them. Luckily enough, the man's computer chose that moment to ping and inform him that the two teenagers were actually who they said they were.

The guard had glared at them and told them to go on through, and his grumpy and displeased tone of voice had caused Touko to _giggle_ of all things, and Touya had made the executive decision to drag his sister out of the checkpoint before the guard decided to imprison them just for the hell of it.

Almost to the front of the lane, Touya pulled out his identification and prompted Touko, who was currently engrossed with the view from the window, to do the same. It wasn't long before it was their turn to be scanned into the city and he and Touko were allowed to escape into the brisk afternoon air.

Seeing the city from afar and actually standing in it were two vastly different experiences. The overcast sky cast frail grey light that glinted off the maze of massive silver skyscrapers, making the city feel entirely artificial. It was a far cry from Nuvema Town, whose most advanced piece of technology was the ability to receive cable television.

Touya took one look at the directions the checkpoint guard had given him, frowned, and handed the sheet off to Touko. From his perch on Touya's shoulder, Oshawott made a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

Some people were good with directions, and Touya was most assuredly not one of them.

"Alright!" Touko exclaimed. "Time to find our apartment!"

Despite Touko's superior navigation skills and the aid of several passersby, it was twenty minutes before they managed to find their assigned apartment. The complex was the same shimmering silver as most of its neighbouring buildings, different only in that it was a few stories shorter.

The automatic glass doors opened before them, and Touya and Touko walked slowly into the spartan interior. The floors were made of shining white tile. Since the walls were an identical shade of sterile white, the space seemed almost like a hospital - all it needed was the harsh glare of artificial light. Presumably in a misguided attempt to spice things up, someone had tossed a throw rug - a rather daring shade of beige in light of the monochromatic colour scheme, Touya noted - in the middle of the floor, but it looked so woefully out of place that only made the room seem colder.

Touya felt he had a right to be pessimistic about what their apartment was going to be like.

"At least it's clean," Touko offered optimistically. Touya resisted the urge to roll his eyes and walked ahead to the elevator to scan his newly acquired Castelia City ID card. They entered between the parting elevator doors, and after a minute-long ride stepped out onto the fourth floor.

Their apartment was at the very end of the hallway. As Touya stepped into the main room, he found himself pleasantly surprised - the room was very sparsely furnished, which was to be expected of government-provided housing, but the basics that it had were actually decent, and it wasn't nearly as small as he'd expected it to be.

"It's nice," Touko said as Touya continued to survey the room.

"It could be worse," he agreed, smiling faintly.

Touko laughed. "That's one way of looking at it, I guess."

Tepig hopped daintily out of Touko's arms and onto the wooden floor, whereas Oshawott made a decidedly less dainty jump off of Touya's shoulder and narrowly avoided crashing into the ground. Touya gave his Pokemon a concerned glance, though by this point he'd more than gotten used to Oshawott slamming into things.

Halfway through a quick look around the room, Touya noticed a note laying on the kitchen table. Noticing what her brother had found, Touko looked over at him curiously.

"What does it say?"

Touya quickly scanned the letter then glanced up at Touko, adequately prepared to relate its contents.

"It says that one of us has to visit the Records Office and fill out some forms. Evidently we have two days, but it says that tonight would be best."

"We just got here," Touko pointed out, sounding annoyed.

"I know, but we can't just ignore it. If I leave now, I'll probably be back before it gets dark."

"What about visiting Bianca?"

At one of the checkpoints along the way, Touko had called Bianca and informed her of their current situation. Though Bianca had been upset that they'd been drafted for work, she hadn't been able to squash the sheer delight she'd felt upon hearing that she'd have the opportunity to see her friends. She'd given them her address and asked them to come over as soon as they were situated in Castelia.

Touya frowned, less than thrilled that he'd have to wait to see one of his best friends.

"I'll see her tomorrow morning."

"Huh, that's right. We're going to the same factory. But, still..." Touko trailed off, presumably trying to figure out how they could avoid a visit to the Records Office while at the same time not piss off the government.

"It's okay. I don't mind doing it." Truth be told Touya did mind _a little_, but someone had to do it. And since Touko was closer to Bianca than he was, he wouldn't feel right preventing them from meeting up tonight.

"Alright." She didn't sound very pleased, but there was really no point in arguing since it'd have to be done eventually.

Touya rolled his suitcase to the side of the room and pushed it out of the way and against the wall. He stooped down to pick up Oshawott, who promptly shimmied himself into a sitting position on Touya's shoulder.

"I'll be back soon."

* * *

In retrospect, Touya thought, Touko probably should have been the one to visit the Records Office. He'd been at it for half an hour and still had absolutely no idea where he was going.

Touya definitely did not blame his subpar navigation skills; rather, he chose to blame the plethora of new buildings, which had been hastily erected in an attempt to provide housing for all of the recent drafted workers.

At this point, the city could have completely abandoned an address-based system and Touya would honestly not have noticed a difference. The addresses fluctuated wildly and often randomly, with buildings right across from each other possessing addresses that were thousands apart. Some didn't even_ have_ the address in the front of the building.

Which was why Touya was currently bothering random people by asking for directions. He spotted a boy who looked to be about his age and decided to approach him, figuring that the boy would be less likely to ignore him than the multitude of harried workers returning to their apartments.

A Pidove, perched atop the boy's blue hair, fluttered about excitedly and was probably the reason for the boy's bed-headed appearance.

"Excuse me," Touya began hesitantly. The boy looked at him curiously.

"Yeah?"

"Could you tell me where the Records Office is?"

"Sorry, I don't know."

Touya tried hard not to look disappointed. Seeing the other boy's look of pity, he realized that he'd probably failed.

"My friend was there earlier, and since he talks _way too much _he described it for me. It's tall, black, and the doors are made of wood. Does that help?"

Touya nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's helpful. Thanks."

"No problem."

Touya waved and returned to wandering about the city on the lookout for a building that fit the description he'd been given.

He came to a small, circular clearing. Faced with a couple of possible choices, he took the road furthest away, all the way to the left.

Turning the corner, his face immediately lit up - about half way down the road was a building that fit. Assuming it had wooden doors, of course, but Touya couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.

When he reached the obsidian building and discovered that its door were in fact wooden, he reached for the metal handle and tugged it open jubilantly.

Then, he froze.

The first thing he noticed was a Zorua who, in mid-leap, let out a purple-black pulse that slammed into the opposing Patrat.

Next, he noticed that neither Pokemon was wearing a limiting collar, which at least explained how the two were fighting.

Finally, he realized that the battle had ceased, and that both trainers - a word Touya had heard only scattered, off-handed mentions of, but one that seemed applicable in this situation - were now looking directly at him.

One of them was a boy, perhaps a year older than Touya, who had sharp grey eyes and tea green hair messily tied back in a ponytail. As he stared back at Touya, a confused frown evident on his face, the Zorua jumped into his arms.

The other trainer, a man with flaming ginger hair, did _not _simply stare at Touya, and Touya quickly felt a growing sense of alarm when the trainer began to approach him.

This was obviously not the Records Office, and Touya needed to escape,_ right now_.

Without a moment's hesitation, he whipped around in the direction of the doorway, grabbed Oshawott to make sure the tiny Pokemon didn't fall off, and bolted through the opening, somehow not smacking into the doorframe in the process.

Touya didn't stop running until he reached his apartment building's lobby.

He came to the conclusion that he had earned the right to collapse, out of breath and panting, onto the lobby's ugly beige carpet. Wearily, Oshawott climbed onto his stomach and fell asleep.

* * *

"Sir, should I chase after him?" The redhead glanced at N questioningly, twitching with indecision and ready to sprint at a moment's notice.

N shook his head. "He's likely lost in the crowds at this point. I'll search for him tomorrow."

The man looked confused. "There won't be search parties?"

"Perhaps if I fail to find him within the day," N conceded. "But I'd rather look for him on my own. Search parties may arouse suspicion."

N's eyes flitted to the side, a thoughtful expression playing across his face.

"Moreover... I'd like to talk to him."

"You'd - what?" the man sputtered before he could catch himself. N gave him a look of mild surprise.

"He seems interesting. And his Oshawott appears to like him." N evidently thought that this was enough of explanation, as if the investigation of anything - or anyone - that caught his interest was absolutely necessary and of supreme importance.

Sometimes the man had zero ideas as to what went on in his leader's mind. He couldn't understand how N could deem someone who could quite possibly put their entire organization at risk 'interesting'.

Nevertheless, he nodded and went along with his leader's plan. At worst, N wouldn't be able to find the boy and they'd simply be behind one day.

And at best - well, he wasn't sure what N had in mind for the boy, but he assumed it was nothing especially pleasant. Team Plasma simply couldn't risk being reported to the government.

* * *

**A/N:** And so N finally appears!

On another note, the blue-haired boy is a cameo from B2W2. After playing White 2 I decided to throw in some of the characters. I'm undecided as to whether or not they'll play a larger role or just loiter around in the background, but they will be at least scattered throughout the story.


	3. History Lesson

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 3: History Lesson -**

After his fantastic collapse in the foyer of his apartment building, it had taken Touya approximately ten minutes to pull himself together. He hadn't wanted to tell Touko about what he'd seen for two reasons; he didn't want to her to worry, but he was also somewhat wary of the course of action she'd suggest.

He had a feeling that she'd definitely want him to report it - not because she was such a stickler for following the rules, but because she knew that Touya _wanted_ to report it but just wasn't brave enough to do so. Either that, or she'd wheedle the information out of Touya and march down to that building herself and attempt to break up the fighting, which would be incredibly rash but entirely plausible given Touko's personality.

So he was going to keep this incident to himself, and his way of dealing with his anxiety over the issue was going to be to pretend that it never happened. He was not going to think about foxes that could shoot out pulses of darkness or odd boys with green hair.

But despite his attempts to forget the battle he'd witnessed, he found that his mind was acting disturbingly one-track and determined to regale him repeatedly with last night's incident. Which was why his thoughts continued to wander, and why he was failing in his plan regarding not worrying his sister.

As usual, she'd woken up earlier than he had, and he'd found her in the kitchen digging into a bowl of dry cereal. The cereal itself was wholly unremarkable, simply a mass of brownish-yellow flakes coated in what Touya assumed was sugar.

After Touko had informed him, however, that the box of cereal had come from one of the kitchen cabinets, already eaten from and bearing no expiration date, Touya began to think that assuming the substance was sugar was giving the cereal too much credit.

Tepig, currently settled beside Touko's cereal bowl, had a little pile of flakes in front of him, presumably placed there by Touko. Seeing that the Pokemon was eyeing the mound of cereal with suspicion, Touya mentally docked points from the cereal's chance of actually being non-toxic.

"Hey!"

Touya jumped at the sudden noise; though he'd known his thoughts were wandering he hadn't thought himself_ that_ distracted.

"You're not listening, are you." Touya could tell that she was trying to sound annoyed, but she couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice.

"Sorry," Touya responded sheepishly. "I haven't really woken up yet."

"Come on! Bianca's coming by soon. Since you didn't see her last night, you can't be half-asleep when she gets here."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation before Touya could reply. He started to stand up, but Touko was out of her chair and at the door in two seconds flat.

At a considerably slower pace than his sister, Touya made his way to the door. Everyone was grinning like an idiot; for the first time in a while, most of the group was together. The only one missing was Cheren.

"Hi, Touya!"

He wasn't the biggest fan of physical contact, but when Bianca practically tackled him into a hug, he didn't really mind it - he'd used to put up a struggle, but after more than half a year without seeing Cheren or Bianca, he missed their quirks. Even the ones that usually annoyed him.

Touya gently prized Bianca off of him; he was beginning to get the tiniest bit claustrophobic. "It's good to see you," Touya said, meaning every word of it.

Bianca nodded, and Touya noticed belatedly that coming to Castelia hadn't seemed to have sapped any of her incessant energy - she was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I think we're ready to go." Touko glanced at Touya to confirm.

"Can we bring our Pokemon?" he asked Bianca. Frowning, she shook her head.

"No. It isn't safe, and the factory head doesn't like Pokemon running around."

"Then I guess we're ready," Touko said.

"Okay! From here, I'm guessing the factory is about a fifteen minute walk. The time is..." Bianca looked down at her wrist and pressed a button on her orange and white Xtransceiver, checking the time, "... six fifty-seven, so we can either walk super slowly or just kill fifteen minutes."

"Bianca, do you think you could show us where the Records Office is?" Touko asked, beating Touya to the punch.

"Sure. But you know they usually want you to go there the day you arrive, right?"

Touya made a noncommittal sound and Touko rolled her eyes. "He couldn't find it."

"Oh," Bianca giggled. "I guess the address system is kind of difficult, but couldn't you have gotten directions from someone?"

Touya paled slightly and started fidgeting once he realized that the question wasn't actually rhetorical. "... Everyone was getting off of work, so I didn't want to hold anyone up."

At least this was partly true - Touya hadn't wanted to bother any of the tired workers returning from their long day of work; the only reason he'd stopped that boy was because he hadn't seemed like he was going anywhere at the moment.

"You know, no one's going to care if you bother them for a couple of seconds."

"I'd feel rude."

"Okay, well, if -"

"Guys, really?" Bianca groaned, exasperated but used to their squabbling. Touya and Touko usually got along well with each other - or at the very least behaved themselves in front of Bianca - but like most siblings many issues were at a danger of devolving into a petty, though generally not very serious, argument. "Let's head out. If we leave now, there'll definitely be time for me to show Touya the Records Office. You're going to head there after work, right?"

"Right. Do you know how long it'll take?"

Bianca quirked her head to the side, thinking. "It was a while ago, but it took me... half an hour, maybe? One hour, tops."

"One hour of paperwork?" Touko wondered aloud, sounding as aghast as Touya looked.

"Wait." Bianca closed her eyes, evidently working something out. "There are two of you, so that's..."

"... Two hours," Touya completed, beginning to wonder why the hell he'd volunteered in the first place.

"I could always -" Touko started, but Touya shook his head.

"No, I offered to do it."

* * *

Touya had spent a larger portion of the day than he'd have liked to admit resigning himself to hours of filling out forms. The work at the factory wasn't as bad as he was expecting, though since they took turns doing certain jobs he wasn't confident it would remain that way.

Working on a different job, Bianca had been in a different part of the factory, though since he and Touko had arrived at the same time they were each doing the same task as the other. In this case, the task had been to inspect the seals on soldiers' food rations. The assignment was extremely easy, but though Touya knew he should be grateful for the simplicity, in reality he had been bored out of his mind and would have preferred something a bit more intellectually stimulating.

He and Touko had been walking back from the factory - Bianca's apartment was in another direction, which unfortunately meant that walking to work together wasn't going to be a common occurrence - before Touya had split off to wind his way through the plethora of buildings and find the ever-elusive Records Office.

Bianca had shown him the way in the morning, but after working at such a repetitive task for seven hours straight the path was a bit fuzzy. Touya came to an intersection, and, after snaking through the throng of people to the other side, discovered that he'd forgotten where to go from there. The frustrating part of this whole thing was that he was positive he was really, really close, and that he only had one or two blocks to go.

Confused and angry at himself for forgetting, he took a look around and tried to get his bearings. Just as he was about to take a wild guess as to the proper direction, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Are you lost?"

Relieved, Touya turned around to face the kind person who'd decided to help him. The word 'yes' was almost out of his mouth, but then he suddenly froze, eyes widening.

In front of him was the boy with green hair, the very same Zorua from yesterday perched on his shoulder. Touya felt rooted to the spot; he was sure he was in some sort of danger, but he had no clue as to what he should be doing about it.

"Y-yes..." Touya stammered. He had no reason to lie, and he figured that there wasn't a point to remaining frozen in terror. He'd let the situation play out . He didn't think that the boy would attack him with his Zorua in the middle of a crowded street - he'd be arrested within a minute, after all - but he was still very much on his guard.

Though, upon closer inspection, Touya noticed that the Zorua was actually wearing its limiter. The tiny green light was on, which meant that the collar was active and in working order.

"If you'll talk with me, I can show you to where you need to go." The boy presented the offer calmly, as if agreeing to talk with someone you'd witnessed committing a criminal offense was what rational people did.

Quickly, Touya began weighing his options - he could run away and return home without having visited the Records Office and potentially be tailed by a criminal organization in the process, or he could follow the strange boy in front of him and possibly end up floating with a cement block around his ankle at the bottom of Castelia Harbour.

Truth be told, neither option was particularly appealing, but a choice had to be made. Influenced by a niggling feeling of curiosity, Touya decided to take the second option and hear what the boy had to say.

"Alright," he agreed, unsure of whether or not he'd made the correct choice. "So..." Touya trailed off, about to ask where they were headed but realizing that he didn't know the other boy's name. "Um. My name's Touya."

He bit back the near-reflexive 'it's nice to meet you', mainly because, well, he wasn't terribly thrilled that the boy had managed to find him, and he wasn't just going tolie to him.

Given the sheer magnitude of Castelia City, though, he _was _slightly impressed. Even if it was through dumb luck that the boy had found him, that was still some massive reserve of luck he had.

"My name is N."

Touya blinked. "Does it stand for anything?" he asked curiously.

N looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure," he admitted.

That was when Touya decided that this boy was _odd_, a thought which was immediately followed up with the feeling that he probably should have noticed this earlier.

Since this topic of conversation was rapidly going nowhere, Touya chose to shift it to something that was actually relevant.

"Where are we going?" He tried not to sound too suspicious, but since N had already begun walking in one direction he figured he had a right to ask.

"I thought we could walk to Prime Pier."

There was a moment of silence as Touya tried to reconcile the fact that they were headed to a pier with the fact that he'd thought up the hypothetical 'floating at the bottom of the harbour' situation only a minute ago.

N glanced at Touya curiously. "I realize the pier lacks people at this time of day, but I chose it solely because it's quieter and would make for easier conversation. There are also benches, which I consider important - since you were lost, I presume you've been walking around a great deal. It also has a nice view."

Touya took a second to process what he figured was essentially a rapidly spoken and excessively verbose way of saying that N wasn't going to hurt him. He was about to thank N for taking him to a place with benches before he remembered that the boy was a _criminal_ and didn't necessarily deserve thanks.

'Necessarily' being the operating word, of course - though Touya was skeptical, he'd promised that he'd listen to what N had to say. And there was perhaps the slightest chance that Touya's mind could be changed.

They walked in silence towards Prime Pier, and Touya realized with a twinge of despair that he'd been literally minutes away from his destination. Though his track record really wasn't the best when it came to finding Castelia buildings, he was sure that he could make out the Records Office jutting out into the street beyond the pier.

N sat down on the bench closest to the end of the pier, and hesitantly Touya sat down beside him. Zorua hopped off of N's shoulder and settled on his lap, closing his eyes in the process - evidently the Pokemon valued sleep more than their impending conversation.

"I think I owe you an explanation," N began. Touya was confused, because he didn't really think he was_ owed_ anything, per se. Obviously N and whoever else had been with him were at fault for engaging in illegal activity; however, Touya and his terrible sense of direction were also somewhat to blame.

N quirked his head to the side, as if trying to figure how to frame his next few words. "You know that Pokemon battles were once waged between individual trainers, correct?"

Touya nodded; he'd learned in history class that Pokemon battles had been legal up until about thirty years ago. Nowadays, the use of Pokemon outside of the police force and warfare was strictly illegal. Pokemon engaged in warfare and the police force had no limiters, and they were also allowed to evolve due to the increase in strength.

"Do you know why they were banned, then?"

"It's because they were - _are_ - barbaric. It isn't fair to force Pokemon to fight each other."

"You're right that battles _can_ be unfair - but if you fight as friends, not simply as trainer and Pokemon, then that isn't the case. But you're wrong about the reason battles were banned. Touya, if everyone carried a gun, what do you think would happen at an anti-government protest when the police showed up?"

Touya didn't really see where N was going with his analogy, but he answered the hypothetical question nonetheless. "The protestors would shoot the police, who would shoot back, but with greater power - the protestors would be defeated, and people would be killed."

"Right. But what do you think would happen if everyone had a Pokemon with them? Assuming the Pokemon was trained for battle and did not have a limiter."

So _that_ was where he was going. "When the police arrived, people would start battling to escape. And... well, there'd be the chance that the protestors would win."

N smiled, seemingly pleased that Touya had grasped what he'd wanted him to. "That's it - that's the important part. With Pokemon, _the protestors could win_. And that would be the problem. But if you make battling illegal, then how could anyone truly oppose the government? All that's left are ineffective protests that are easily dispelled by a police presence."

"That makes sense," Touya conceded, "but do you have any proof? My reason works just as well."

"If a Pokemon didn't want to fight, then it would run away or simply refuse. A Pokemon is not under any obligation to fight for its trainer."

"Wait. But didn't trainers used to use Pokeballs to trap Pokemon?"

Today, the only Pokeballs that survived were used in a modified capacity to transport Pokemon that had evolved on the battlefield to a size where physical transport was no longer practical. The only time Touya had seen an actual, unmodified Pokeball was one time on television while watching President Crane.

Since Sedia Crane was both the sole ruler of Unova and the owner of a massive Pokemon, she used a Pokeball for transport. It wasn't as if anyone would dare object.

"That is true - however, a Pokemon can let itself out of a Pokeball."

"Really?" Touya asked skeptically; this was news to him.

"I realize I have no proof of this, so I ask that you trust me."

"Sorry, I can't. Not at the moment." Briefly, he wondered why he'd even bothered apologizing - he shouldn't be sorry he was unable to trust a criminal, but he still kind of felt like a jerk. "But I might be able to. Could you tell me why you were fighting?"

"Zorua and I were engaging in a practice battle for a new member. Most Pokemon aren't used to battles, so I make sure to conduct the practices myself to ensure that no one gets hurt."

"... Member of what?" Touya asked, confused.

"A member of Team Plasma. We're... I suppose you'd call it an anti-government organization."

Touya was almost afraid to ask, but his curiosity was unrelenting. "What's your position within the group?"

"I'm..." he paused for a moment, and Touya thought he spotted uncertainty in his expression, "I'm the leader of Team Plasma."

Touya wondered just what exactly he'd gotten himself into.

* * *

**A/N:** Originally the chapter was going to include N and Touya's entire conversation, but I decided to cut it off due to a couple of factors that cropped up. Crane's Pokemon will be revealed pretty soon, though if you really think about it you may be able to guess correctly. The 'a Pokemon can let itself out of its Pokeball' idea comes from the anime, but since there's nothing in the games to contradict it, I decided to roll with it.

Also, characters are going to be different than their game selves due to the change in universe. There's a reason N is more open to battling - if you'd like, you can think of this N as a sort of cross between BW!N and B2W2!N. To add to that, I realize that 'N' does actually stand for something, but there's a reason this N doesn't know what it is.

Lastly, due to Hurricane Sandy making an appearance, I will likely lose Internet (in the past, my Internet connection has been felled by lesser storms). I'll almost certainly have it back by next Sunday, but just in case I don't, there's your heads-up explanation for any delays.


	4. Choices

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 4: Choices -**

Since it wasn't everyday that someone admitted that they were the leader of an anti-government group, Touya was kind of proud of himself for not looking completely shocked.

"You head a terrorist organization," he stated, not really wanting to believe it.

"We're not terrorists," N responded. Touya was surprised that he didn't sound upset or offended; rather, he simply sounded confused. "We haven't killed anyone, and we do not intend to. We don't destroy property, and we don't stage protests or occupy buildings."

"What _do_ you do?" Assuming N was telling the truth, Touya thought this a valid question.

"Right now, we're focused on recruiting new members and training Pokemon. Once we have built up the necessary number of members and are prepared for battle, we plan on executing our main goal."

"Which is...?"

"We're going to overthrow the government." With the way he said it, N may as well have tacked on an 'obviously' at the end of the statement - to Touya, it seemed as if N believed this to be the next logical step.

Touya winced at the latter part of N's sentence and quickly double-checked that they were definitely alone. Anti-government activity had to be reported immediately, and Touya absolutely did not want to risk being thrown in jail and executed.

If N noticed Touya's increased vigilance, he didn't show it, instead simply continuing his earlier point. "Under Crane, the government has become oppressive. Both people and Pokemon are being misled. The people of Unova are trapped by the government, and the Pokemon by their limiters. Team Plasma will free everyone, and then Unova will be a fair place for all."

Though Touya thought that N was more than a little odd, he had to admit that the boy was better than average at making speeches - he was beginning to understand how N had convinced so many to join him. More importantly, N's speech actually had substance; N might be a big talker, but his words were not empty.

Still, Touya did have a problem with the achievability - or, rather, lack thereof - of N's goal.

"Isn't that too idealistic?" Touya ventured. "I mean, the truth is that the world isn't fair."

Seeing N's frown, Touya hastily added, "I'm not saying it's a bad goal. But it seems unrealistic."

"Aren't ideals what move people to action, though? Touya, do you make a decision based on what you're told is correct, or what you _believe_ to be correct?"

"Well..." Touya began, wanting to give N a serious answer, "it depends. For the small things, I follow my beliefs. But when it comes to larger things, I listen to the government - not necessarily because I want to, but because I don't have a choice."

Touya almost wanted to gulp down a breath of air; while it may not have seemed like much to most people - especially in comparison to the number of words N was putting out - the amount he was speaking was a lot for Touya, especially when said all at once.

Touya felt a little like he'd dodged the question, however; giving non-answers was a good way to avoid conflict and was almost reflexive, but there were always certain people who would consistently call him out on it - Cheren and Touko would rarely let him slide if he avoided a question. He had the feeling that N was the same way, although he'd likely go about confronting him more politely, if at all. Cheren's aggressive curiosity and Touko's persistence generally drove both of them to kick politeness to the curb while in the pursuit of an answer.

"Your thoughts are in agreement with those of the majority."

N's tone was level, but to Touya it almost seemed like an insult, and he wasn't entirely sure why.

"However, I have a ... an educated guess, that you are different from most people."

Now Touya got the sense he was being complimented. Since there wasn't really anything to say to that and N was probably going to keep talking anyway, Touya remained silent.

"I think you're capable of understanding my ideals. You don't have to agree with them completely, or even think that it's possible to accomplish them. But could you trust me?"

Touya opened his mouth before his brain could even formulate an answer. Almost immediately, however, he realized that N wasn't done speaking just yet.

"If so, then I invite you to join Team Plasma."

To be honest, this proposal more than ruined the moment, and up until then Touya hadn't even been aware that they'd been _having _one.

N extended his hand, but the gesture seemed odd to Touya - perhaps it was the shock of N's words messing with his thoughts, but it seemed as if the motion was awkward, like N knew intuitively that people shook hands and was simply applying that knowledge to the current situation.

For one brief and utterly insane interval of time, Touya considered reciprocating the handshake and agreeing to N's proposal. Ultimately, however, there was no way he could accept.

Touya shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't join."

Touya felt he ought to explain himself, though why refusing to join a group of terrorists needed justification, he wasn't exactly sure. But N began talking before he could come up with anything.

"I understand. But though you may not want to join now, would you perhaps consider it? The offer will always be open."

"Okay," Touya said before he could think. He was surprised to find that he actually meant it - he wouldn't simply discard N's offer.

"Thank you." N didn't smile, not really, but his mouth quirked upwards just slightly in a manner that made Touya think that N might have been pleased.

Since Touya wasn't anywhere near a master of verbal communication, he often relied on other people's non-verbal cues. N didn't seem to be as expressive as most, so Touya felt as if he had to be pay close attention to catch any minute changes.

Maybe that was why Touya found N intriguing. He had to work to get a read on him.

"Um," Touya began a bit awkwardly after a moment had passed, "I don't mean to be rude, but is that all you wanted to tell me?"

Touya almost winced at how stupidly worded the question was - 'oh, is that all you wanted to tell me, just that you lead an anti-government group and want me to join?' - but he realized that the Records Office would probably be closing very soon, and he didn't want to just get up and leave without resolving the conversation in some fashion.

"For now, yes," N replied, in what Touya thought was an unnecessarily cryptic manner. "Since our conversation is over, where is it you were planning to visit before I found you?"

"The Records Office. But it's straight down the street, right? So I can find it from here."

"... It closed a couple of minutes ago." N sounded apologetic, as if he thought that it was his fault Touya had missed his chance. Since N had done most of the talking it sort of was, but Touya didn't have it in himself to blame N for it.

"I guess I'll go tomorrow."

"Will you be able to find it from your apartment?" N's tone of genuine concern allayed some of the annoyance Touya would have normally felt; he wasn't _that_ bad at locating buildings, after all.

"I think so."

N started gently moving Zorua from his lap, and Touya, taking this as a sign that they were about done, got to his feet.

"Thank you," Touya said, turning to face N, who'd since stood up and was cradling the still-sleeping Zorua in his arms.

"For explaining things," Touya clarified. N still wore a neutral expression - it wasn't blank, just not revealing - but Touya had gotten the sense that he was confused.

"It was no trouble. Though I admit I'm perplexed as to why you're thanking me when I obviously had an ulterior motive."

The ulterior motive being, Touya supposed, convincing him to join Team Plasma. Which kind of was one hell of an ulterior motive if he really thought about it.

"I was expecting something worse than an invitation."

"Even if I didn't want you to join, you would have been in no danger."

"I get that now. The only thing I don't understand is why you want me to become a member of Team Plasma."

N looked at Touya as if the answer should be obvious. "You're interesting."

Touya knew his face was red, and he glanced away from N. He couldn't believe that someone else - especially someone like N - could possibly find _him_ interesting. He was also a bit taken aback, because you don't just _tell_ someone you find them interesting.

"That can't be the only reason."

"I could tell that your Oshawott likes you. Most domestic Pokemon are either unhappy or apathetic towards their owners, but Oshawott thinks of you as a friend."

"How do you know?"

"Most people can tell what other people are thinking by looking at their expression or listening to their tone. I'm... that isn't one of my strengths. But what most can do with people, I can do with Pokemon - I could tell that, even with a limiter on, your Oshawott was fully prepared to protect you however he could."

A surprised smile spread over Touya's face; he felt flattered that Oshawott had been willing to try and fight despite being at a major disadvantage.

"Thanks for telling me."

N's eyes widened just slightly. "You keep thanking me, but it should be the exact opposite. So, thank you for listening to me. Most people would not have."

Touya was about to refute N's last statement until he realized that N was dead-on. Most people would definitely not have agreed to hear out a criminal, but Touya was glad that he had.

"You're welcome."

The Castelia City streetlights flickered on, reminding Touya that he'd been out for far longer than he'd promised Touko. He really should have left earlier, but N was surprisingly easy to talk to - even though the boy sometimes talked more than was necessary, it wasn't anywhere near impossible for Touya to get a word in.

In fact, Touya realized that he'd done more talking in one conversation than he usually did in an entire day. He was sure this meant _something_, but what that 'something' was continued to elude him.

"I should go. It's getting late, and I told my sister I'd be back before nightfall."

N glanced around, as if he hadn't noticed that the streetlights were now lit. "Of course."

As Touya began to turn around, N spoke. "You're free to visit the Plasma headquarters any time, so would you consider coming by tomorrow?"

It was his day off, and it wasn't as if he'd be incredibly busy tomorrow. But, really, he felt as if his response shouldn't have come to him as quickly as it had.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

Touya scanned his card and opened the door to his apartment. Alerted by the click of the door, Touko, seated on the couch, had already craned her head to look in Touya's direction.

"Guess it took longer than we thought it would," she said sympathetically.

Touya really didn't want to lie to his sister, but he found himself seriously considering it. Refuting her statement and pointing out that he'd actually had a conversation with a criminal - admittedly, a criminal who wasn't exactly the horrible person Touya had been expecting, but still - instead of doing what he was supposed to would raise a number of questions and concerns.

In the end, though, Touya just couldn't bring himself to lie. Maybe if he just left out a couple of things, Touko wouldn't think that anything was up.

Touya heard the scrambling of tiny feet, and seconds later he watched as Oshawott careened into his leg. Recovering with a speed that suggested that this sort of thing happened often, Oshawott righted himself and danced around until Touya picked him up.

"I didn't make it," Touya said, feeling a bit ashamed. Oshawott licked his chin in what Touya assumed was an act of commiseration; either way, it still made him feel a little better.

"Are you serious?" Touko asked incredulously. "You didn't get lost again, did you?"

"... Just a little," Touya replied defensively. "But it was more that it was closed by the time I got there."

"I thought the Records Office closed at nine."

Touya saw where this line of questioning was headed, but nodded anyway.

"Besides being lost, what were you doing for two hours?"

Touya glanced off to the side, preparing for the barrage of questions that were soon to follow. Since he wasn't a very social person, he knew that his sister would definitely be interested in anyone he was capable of talking to for more than ten minutes.

"Talking to someone," Touya said quietly, some part of him hoping that Touko magically wouldn't hear him and would mercifully let the topic drop.

"Oh!" Touko exclaimed happily, and Touya thought that she was far too enthusiastic. Frankly, N's offer to escort him to the Records Office taken with Touko's excitement over him simply talking to someone made Touya feel just the slightest bit pathetic. "So, who was it?"

"A boy I just met. He offered to show me where to go."

... Which was, admittedly, entirely true. Touya had simply decided not to mention that he'd actually met N _yesterday_, or that N had approached him more for a conversation than for helping Touya find his destination.

"But obviously you went far beyond direction-giving." Touko waggled her eyebrows, and Touya was a bit horrified at how scandalous she made her statement sound.

"All we did was talk," Touya stated, feeling as if he had to.

"Well, what did you talk about?"

Sometimes - or, if Touya was being honest with himself, most of the time - Touko was incredibly nosy. As long as her poking around wouldn't greatly upset someone she cared about, Touko generally did her best to learn as much information as possible about... well, anything, really.

When Touko had first met Cheren, she'd asked him about his favourite colour - since Cheren was three years-old at the time and an immensely stubborn individual, he'd refused to tell her. It had taken her a full week, but Touko's commitment to annoying the hell out of Cheren with the same constant question had finally gotten her an answer.

That answer being 'pink', which was probably the reason Cheren didn't want to admit it in the first place.

"We talked about..." Touya tried to come up with a creative way to phrase 'treasonous anti-government activity', "politics."

"That's kind of a strange topic for someone you just met."

Suddenly Touko grinned, and Touya could practically see the lightbulb over her head. He looked at her warily as he waited to hear whatever she'd come up with.

"If he likes politics, you should invite him over for tomorrow night!"

Since Touya didn't see how tomorrow night and politics were connected, he simply continued to stare at Touko.

"Tomorrow is Crane's address. You know, the one she has every month, always at the same time? It's also mandatory? Ringing a bell?"

Despite the fact that Touko was being overly sarcastic, Touya did feel a bit stupid for forgetting about the address. Every month, Sedia Crane herself went on television - Touya suspected this was the only reason they'd been provided with a T.V. in their new apartment - and gave a speech containing mostly production statistics and support for Unova in the Great War.

Touya found all of this horrendously boring, but viewing the address was required. T.V. sets were monitored, and having them off during the address unless prior approval was given was illegal. Touya didn't really know how they could actually confirm a person was physically in the room _watching_ the T.V., but when it came to illegal acts most people didn't take chances.

"Well," Touko continued, evidently unconcerned that she was starting to annoy her brother, "I think it's a good idea."

Touya shrugged noncommittally. Since he had already made up his mind to visit N tomorrow, asking him over would be perfectly feasible, but the idea of it made him nervous.

He wasn't entirely sure why, but he figured it probably had something to do with N's occupation, for lack of a better word. Or the fact that they'd just met yesterday and not _really_ met until today.

There were many, many reasons why inviting N over would be a bad idea. And for some reason, Touya hadn't completely discarded it.

"Before you set your stuff down," Touko began, "I have one more question. What's this new acquaintance of yours called?"

"N."

"Huh? Like the letter?" Touko wore an expression that probably mirrored the one Touya'd had earlier that day.

"I think so."

"That's... interesting?"

"So it fits," Touya said without thinking. He immediately felt like kicking himself, because he knew that his statement was only going to turn into fodder for Touko's curiosity and that what Touko'd actually meant was that the name was incredibly weird. Which it was.

"You think he's interesting?" There was way too much innocence in Touko's voice. The best response Touya could think of was to shoot Touko a mock glare and walk out of the room.

Day off or not, tomorrow was going to be an immensely long day.

* * *

**A/N:** Writing this chapter took longer than expected, if only because Touya and N just would not stop talking to each other.

If you think Touko's being too enthusiastic about Touya talking to someone for a lengthy period of time, then you are most likely socially competent and should be proud of yourself. As someone who's extremely quiet, though, I can safely say that family members become positively overjoyed when you carry on an extended conversation with either a new person or someone you don't know very well.

Next chapter is shaping up to be kind of a breather chapter, but stuff does get done.


	5. Hidden Behind the Clouds

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 5: Hidden Behind the Clouds -**

Touya woke up and was immediately assailed by a feeling of impending doom. Sure, that might have been a dramatic way of putting it, but the various tasks he had to complete today all rushed him at once and it was a bit overwhelming.

There was also the matter of inviting N over. It hadn't even seemed like such a great idea last night, and now Touya was regretting ever agreeing to it. He could back out, but Touko would be on his case all evening and that was nowhere near an optimal scenario.

Touya flipped over in his bed, careful not to accidentally roll onto a still-snoring Oshawott. The time was just a little after nine, and, feeling the most well-rested he had in a week, Touya was glad that it was his day off and he was allowed to sleep in.

Probably because they'd arrived at the factory at the same time, he and Touko both had the same two days off. They only shared one of those days with Bianca, but that was still sort of lucky, and Touya wasn't going to complain about it.

Touya maneuvered around Oshawott and swung himself out of bed. Fifteen minutes later he was in the kitchen - or, at least, the area with a barely functioning microwave, a rickety table, and cupboards with suspicious food that occasionally passed for a kitchen.

Much like the first time he'd entered the apartment, he noticed a note lying on the counter. Since he'd guessed that Touko had already left the apartment, it didn't come as a surprise to find out that she was the one who'd penned the note.

There were only two sentences written on the slip of paper.

_I won't be back until six, so if you could make dinner, that'd be great! And don't forget to ask N over!_

_- Touko_

That feeling of doom was making a triumphant return. As was the wondering why he'd agreed to this.

Distressing thoughts aside, Touya had promised himself that he would write a letter to Cheren today. Before he'd left, Cheren had told Touya to avoid using e-mail to contact him. Admittedly Touya didn't know the reasoning behind it, but he figured that Cheren probably had a good explanation.

Telephones weren't an option due to their inconvenience. Not only were soldiers restricted to certain times where they could use the phone, but calls from Unova to anywhere abroad were monitored very closely, and the noticeable lag made conversation difficult.

Besides, Touya absolutely _hated_ telephones.

And so he found himself turning the apartment upside down in his search for a pen and paper. Since Touko had managed to scribble out a quick note before she'd left, he knew they had to be around somewhere.

Touya pulled open a drawer and, upon finally locating the necessary letter-writing materials, sat down at the kitchen table. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to write, but he knew he had to at least mention that he and Touko had been forced to move to Castelia.

Cheren had always been interested in the government's activities, which was an interest that Touya had never shared. He also hadn't understood - he still didn't, actually - why Cheren had willingly enlisted in the army. And it wasn't like it was as simple as signing up; since Cheren was just under the draft age, he'd had to edit his information within the Unova database.

Cheren had tried to detail the process he'd gone through to do it, but the whole explanation had gone right over Touya's head. Touya suspected that he probably didn't _want_ to know exactly how it was done, anyway.

So. The letter.

Touya scribbled out an explanation of his and Touko's situation, answered the questions Cheren had asked in his previous letter, and tacked on one of his own asking when Cheren would be able to return to Unova.

As satisfied as he was ever going to be with the letter, Touya taped it shut, taking care to do so gently. Mail screeners tended toward the impatient, and if they couldn't get something open within a couple of seconds, then the package or letter was at a significant risk of simply being ripped open, which did not bode well for its contents.

Oshawott padded into the room, bleary-eyed from sleep and working hard not to stumble. Touya stuffed the envelope into his pocket and let Oshawott clumsily clamber up his arm.

He had a mission - multiple missions, actually - and he was going to accomplish all of them _today_. No getting lost and being generally pathetic, just pure results.

Shutting the door behind him, Touya left his apartment, resolved to be productive.

* * *

Filling out paperwork had been a long and agonizing ordeal. Why he needed to produce hard copies of information that was just going to be transferred into a digital form anyway was beyond him, but there was no point in arguing.

After two hours - Bianca had been right, after all - he had emerged from the Records Office, mentally exhausted but not defeated. On the bright side, he'd been able to mail his letter to Cheren while he was there, which was one less task he had to complete.

He had a couple of options as to what he could do next, and he quickly settled on what appealed to him most at the moment. He wanted to take a walk. Mainly because it'd help him familiarize himself with the city, but also because he was interested in what Castelia had to offer that didn't include factories and blocks of homogenous buildings.

Touya didn't really think about where he was going, instead focusing on what he was seeing. He came across a narrow, dim alleyway, and entered it due to a stupidly determined sense of curiosity.

It took him approximately eight seconds to regret his decision, when a man dressed in all black jumped out from behind a dumpster. Then there was some sort of bright light and the man was cackling like he derived a massive amount of enjoyment from scaring random people half to death. Touya couldn't see Oshawott's expression, but from the way the Pokemon was shaking, he knew Oshawott was either terrified or angry. In reality, it was probably both.

After quickly exiting and resolving never to enter sketchy alleyways ever again, Touya lost himself in his walking. He was sort of but not really aiming to return to his apartment, but since he didn't have to be back for hours returning was not a top priority.

He came to a building that stuck out from all the rest. It was a vivid, forest green, with windows of stained glass that glittered faintly and morphed the late afternoon sunlight into a gentle glow of pale pastel.

Touya stared. The door was boarded up with rotting wood that had been messily nailed down, and the coloured glass obscured any potential view of the inside.

"Is it that beautiful?" came a curious voice from behind, and with a growing sense of deja vu Touya whirled around to find himself face to face with N.

Touya nodded. "I think so."

N hummed faintly, acknowledging that he'd heard Touya speak, and Touya wasn't sure N knew that he'd done it. "I've never given much thought to the aesthetic appeal of things," N admitted. "To me, practicality is more important. A window that can't be seen through doesn't make much sense."

"It doesn't have to."

N met his eyes, intrigued. He waited for Touya to continue.

"I think it's alright for things to just be pretty." Touya thought he could have phrased it better, but that was what had come out, and he was stuck with it.

"What do you think is beautiful?" The question was out of Touya's mouth before he could even wonder why he'd asked it. In forced social situations he often asked a question in order to move the conversation along, but this question was different. He had asked because he wanted to know the answer, and there was no doubt that it hadn't been forced at all.

N paused for a moment before answering. "Equations and theorems have always fascinated me. They're elegant, yet practical. Equations make sense, and that _sense_ is beautiful. Perhaps the best example is the equation which unites three of the most important mathematical variables. Within it, e, i, and pi are transformed into one entity."

Touya was not by any stretch of the imagination a math and science person. But with the way N talked about mathematics - the reverence and sheer fascination he had for it - Touya almost felt as if he could understand what N saw in it.

Trying to understand N's point of view was a bit like trying to find the sun when it was hidden behind clouds.

Touya realized he was getting swept up in his thoughts, and he quickly pulled himself back to reality. He hadn't been sure of what he'd do, but something had solidified his resolve.

That didn't make his next question any less nerve-wracking, however.

"N, do you want to come over tonight?"

N's eyes widened just barely, but Touya recognized it as surprise. "For what reason?"

"To watch President Crane's address." He suddenly felt more nervous because, once he'd said it, the address didn't seem like such a great reason for inviting someone over.

Touya shifted awkwardly while he waited to hear N's reply. Oshawott chirped some variation of his own name, and N turned his gaze towards the tiny Pokemon.

"Is that so?" N asked inquisitively. Oshawott nodded fervently and made more noises which Touya was sure had meaning but to him sounded like nonsense.

"Um," Touya began after a moment of confused silence, "did you just talk to Oshawott?"

All things considered, this was probably one of the stranger questions Touya had ever asked. Obviously Touya had talked to Oshawott before, but he was incapable of holding an actual conversation with him.

N froze, and his eyes flicked back to Touya. "I told you I could read a Pokemon's body language. I can also understand what they're saying." He sounded reluctant, and Touya guessed that he hadn't planned to reveal this fact this soon, if at all.

"How does that work?" Touya asked skeptically.

"Humans attach meanings to words, but Pokemon attach words to meanings. The actual words don't really matter - it's the tone and intention behind them. Seeing past whata Pokemon is saying and discerninghowthey're saying it is how one understands them."

It sounded more plausible than Touya'd thought it would, but he believed that he still had a right to be skeptical.

There had to be a way to test N's assertion, because Touya really wanted to believe that N wasn't lying to him.

"What did Oshawott say?"

"He told me that I should accept your invitation, not only because your sister was very insistent you ask me, but also because it would be beneficial for both of us. I'm not exactly sure what he means." The last sentence was almost questioning, as if N was wondering if Touya knew what Oshawott had meant.

Touya was as clueless as N, so he settled for mulling N's words over. Touya had mentioned that he had a sister, but he hadn't told N anything about Touko, so, realistically, N shouldn't know that she'd prodded Touya to ask N over.

Touya was going to give N the benefit of the doubt. Not because he felt an inexplicable and overwhelming urge to do so, but because he was a nice person and there was more evidence in N's favour than there was against it.

Then Touya realized that, because of the curveball he'd just been thrown, he hadn't noticed until now that N hadn't given him an answer.

"Would you like to come over?"

"I'm surprised you would still offer." N seemed to consider something for a moment before he spoke again. "Unless it's that you're being polite?"

N posed the question as if he was genuinely unsure, and even though it was a reasonable thing to wonder after telling someone you could talk to Pokemon, Touya still felt kind of bad.

"That isn't it," Touya insisted. It was a weird feeling to be so determined to convince someone to come over - for Touya it had always been the other way around. He'd long since lost track of the number of times he'd been convinced, bribed, forced, or simply tricked into all sorts of social situations.

N gave him an odd look that Touya couldn't decipher. "In that case, I would like to join you tonight."

* * *

**A/N:** The conversation about beauty was just something that sneaked in, but it's probably my favourite part of the chapter. The equation N's talking about is e^(i * pi) = -1. I came across it while flipping through a book of really neat equations, and it stuck in my head as something N would like, especially since it's widely considered to be one of the most beautiful mathematical equations.

If you're wondering why Cheren doesn't want to receive e-mails, this will probably be explained later in the story. If things don't work out that way, then I'll simply mention it in a later author's note.

Also, thank you to the people who've reviewed so far! It's always nice to know that people like what I'm writing. Reviews are really good motivation, too.


	6. Invitations

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 6: Invitations -**

Touya had been prepared to think up some compelling reason for N to come over, so when N had agreed with very little convincing, Touya had been taken aback.

But until Touya had remembered the first part of his sister's note, he'd actually been feeling almost pleased about the entire situation.

It was rare for things to just slip his mind, and forgetting that he was supposed to make dinner tonight for three - or four, depending on whether Touko invited Bianca at the last minute, which was definitely within the realm of possibility - was upsetting.

This problem was only compounded by the fact that Touya knew that there was absolutely nothing edible - potentially expired cereal most assuredly did not count - left in the apartment, which meant only one thing.

"I need to go food shopping," Touya said, wondering how this was going to play out. Since N didn't know where his apartment was, Touya had been planning on just walking back with him.

There was no way that Touya would be able to track down food, return to his apartment, make dinner, get N, and walk back to his apartment. It just wasn't going to happen given the amount of time he had left.

From out of nowhere, the thought popped into his mind that he could always drag N grocery shopping with him.

"Do you want to come with me?" Touya blurted out before the thought was fully processed, and immediately he gave his mind a swift mental kick. Because asking someone who might no longer be a stranger but might not yet qualify as a friend if they wanted to go food shopping was really weird.

Oshawott snorted in amusement, because evidently he found the whole situation quite hilarious.

Touya was expecting flat-out rejection from N. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that he was kind of _hoping_ for flat-out rejection, because then they could both just forget that Touya had ever asked the question.

"Alright," N agreed almost hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure of this was a good idea or not.

Touya blinked.

_What._

"... Okay." Touya was going to recover from his momentary lapse of judgment. He really was. "Do you know any food stores?"

Touya had initially been planning to visit the information centre at the exit to Skyarrow Bridge, but since N was tagging along there was no longer a need to do so.

"There's a food shop on Mode Street." N sounded slightly puzzled, and it occurred to Touya that since he'd been the once invited along, N had probably assumed that Touya actually knew where he was going. This was rarely a valid assumption to make.

"It's located next to the art museum," N continued, "and I've heard that it has a higher quality selection than most of the other stores."

Touya started to walk forward, but he quickly realized that he had no idea where Mode Street was. He stopped and shot a pleading look at N, who took the hint and began leading the way.

The walk proceeded mostly in silence, though this silence had none of the anxiety Touya had felt when he'd met N for the second time and had been escorted to Prime Pier. Occasionally, N would point out some sort of landmark - or just anything of interest, really - and explain the story behind it.

As N began to slow his pace, Touya did the same.

"We're here," N said, leading Touya towards a tall, rectangular building. The structure's facade was composed almost entirely of glass, which made it feel more airy and open than metal usually allowed. From what Touya could see from the outside, it appeared as if only the first two floors actually sold food; the top two floors looked like they dealt entirely with books. Touya also spotted a tiny cafe nestled against the leftmost wall on the second floor.

All in all, the building gave off a surprisingly homey feel, which was only reinforced when Touya and N entered the store. Instead of the sterile scent of cleaning supplies, the gentle aroma of coffee floated throughout the air, presumably wafting in from the cafe upstairs.

"Hello!" an elderly woman greeted them pleasantly from behind the counter. "Feel free to take your time and browse the store."

Touya usually avoided small stores because he felt awkward being watched while he shopped; in this case, though, the shopkeeper's energetic cheerfulness put Touya at ease. He also had N to deflect most of the attention - given N's unusual green hair, he reasoned than N was probably more eye-catching than he was.

Touya went down the first aisle he spotted, hoping that an ingredient would spark an idea for what to make for dinner.

Nothing came to him, unfortunately.

Touya turned around to face N. "Is there anything you want to eat?"

N looked a bit surprised at being asked his opinion on dinner. "I don't have a preference. Since you invited me over, I'll leave it to you." A second after N finished talking, he seemed to realize something. "I apologize. I should have mentioned this sooner, but I don't eat meat."

... That made a great deal of sense, actually. Touya supposed that he wouldn't be able to meat if he could talk to it, either.

"It's okay. I don't have to cook meat." Touya paused for a moment, trying to figure out what he could make. "Do you have a favourite vegetable or anything?"

"Not particularly. I mostly eat instant meals, so I'm not that well-acquainted with types of food outside that."

"Does -" Touya stopped himself, about to ask if anyone ever cooked for N. That didn't seem to be the case, and Touya chose not to be rude and shoved his curiosity to the back of his mind.

"Do you ever make food? I mean, other than the instant kind?"

"Occasionally, but it never seems to come out correctly."

Touya thought that was a bit odd. All cooking was was simply the correct combination of ingredients and techniques. Barring disaster or some sort of strange cooking environment, using the same ingredients and the same techniques should result in the same dish, no exceptions.

Now that Touya thought about it, cooking was probably the most logical thing he was successful at. Which was really all the more reason N should be good at it.

Maybe N actually was good at cooking, but no one had ever told him so.

"Well," Touya began, a bit depressed at the notion, "I'd like to try your food sometime."

Touya felt kind of self-conscious after N didn't reply.

"Um, if that's alright, of course."

"No, it's... I'm flattered."

Touya was ninety-nine percent sure he was blushing. Embarrassed, he ducked his head and went back to combing through the aisles. Since it sounded like N was usually stuck with microwave meals, Touya wanted to make something that wasn't commonly made instant.

When his eyes settled on a carton of eggs, Touya was finally hit with an idea. He grabbed the carton and a stick of nearby butter, and, moving to the other appropriate sections, grabbed lemon juice, olive oil, potatoes, and an onion.

Along the way to the counter he checked his pocket to make sure that he had money on him, because not being able to pay for his purchase would possibly be the only thing that could make this situation more embarrassing.

Mercifully, there was money in his pocket, and so he set the ingredients on the counter. The elderly woman smiled and rang him up, and three minutes later Touya was out the door, bag in hand and N in tow - because, this time, Touya was leading the way.

By the time they reached the door to Touya's apartment it was already fifteen until six, and Touya knew that he wasn't going to be able to finish making dinner before Touko arrived, presumably along with Bianca.

Touya swiped his card through the scanner and gently pushed the door open, ushering N inside.

"I need to start dinner now. If you'd like to help, I'd, um, really appreciate it, but I can understand if you don't want to."

N seemed to be considering Touya's suggestion. "If you think that I'll do more good than harm, then I would like to help you."

"Thanks," Touya smiled. He placed the bag of ingredients on the kitchen counter and started taking them out one by one, separating them into two different piles or, in the case of the butter and seasonings, placing them squarely in the middle. He laid a pan on top of the tiny, two burner stove - it wasn't high quality, as was to be expected of something government-provided, but it would get the job done.

Touya pointed to one of the piles he'd delineated, which contained the carton of eggs - sans one egg, which Touya'd taken for the other pile - and the lemon juice.

"Do you know how to make a hollandaise sauce?" Touya asked, fetching a bowl from one of the cabinets. He tried to find a whisk, but after a couple seconds of searching he gave up and settled for a spoon.

N shook his head. "That sounds rather complex."

"It's pretty simple, actually. Do you mind making the sauce while I work on the other part of the dish?"

"I don't mind, although I won't be able to make it without instruction." N sounded a bit confused and maybe just a little skeptical, as if he didn't think he would be capable of creating an edible sauce. "What are you making?"

"Potato pancakes. I've never had them with hollandaise before, but, um, I thought they'd be a good match."

Essentially the only time Touya talked a lot all at once - ignoring the fact that talking more than usual around N seemed to be becoming more and more common - was when he was explaining something. Touko called it his 'teaching mode', and when Touya was in said mode he was far less nervous with social interaction than usual.

No awkward pauses or um's or anything. It was actually kind of impressive.

In reality, Touya thought that probably had more to do with the fact that he was so focused on imparting knowledge that he didn't have time to spare being nervous.

Touya handed N all of the necessary tools and, rolling up his sleeves, started to work on his side of the dish, giving N instructions as needed.

Just as he was about to start shaping the pancakes, he heard a beep from the outside. A second later the door was thrown semi-violently open, and Touko burst into the apartment with Bianca following right behind.

"Hey, Touya!" Touko waved, and Touya turned around, molding a pancake. "Welcome back. Hi, Bianca," he added, noticing Bianca worming her way past Touko, who was blocking most of the door.

Touko seemed to realize that Touya wasn't alone, and Touya noted with concern that her grin grew even larger. He was fairly sure that N and his sister would get along decently - at the very least, they wouldn't hate each other - but Touya was worried that Touko would do something to embarrass him in front of N, like bring up childhood stories or insinuate things that were _definitely not true_.

"Hello! I'm Touko, and this is Bianca. Your name's N, right?"

"That's correct," N replied, giving Touya a questioning glance.

"I told her about you. But not everything," Touya said hastily, hoping that N would get the message. N gave a subtle nod in response, and Touya smiled.

"Okay, guys, we're here, too," Touko complained melodramatically, walking herself and Bianca over to the kitchen table. "So, when's dinner going to be ready?"

"About ten minutes."

Touya turned back to his work and began forming the remaining pancakes, dropping them into the olive oil-coated pan as necessary. To finish up the sauce, N, as per Touya's instructions, added what lemon juice remained.

Touko made some comment about it being adorable that they were cooking together, which Touya chose to ignore. N just looked confused, probably because the words 'cooking' and 'adorable' were not commonly used in conjunction with each other.

Nevertheless, the two finished their task, and Touya quickly plated the meal and dished out everyone's portion. The table was just large enough to almost-comfortably seat four people, hosting Touya and N on one side and Touko and Bianca on the other.

Tepig and Oshawott were in the midst of some sort of wrestling match near the door, whereas Bianca's Munna - arguably the sanest member of the trio, or perhaps just the laziest - floated serenely above the fray.

Touya was, as usual, banking on everyone else to provide the talking. Part of the reason he found one-on-one conversations to be a terrifying ordeal was that, if the other person wasn't talkative enough, then the descent of an awkward silence was almost inevitable.

He was simultaneously relieved and concerned when Touko began talking.

"Touya told me you met him because he couldn't find his way around Castelia. He's always had a really bad sense of direction, so you really did him a favour!"

Well. This conversation was off to a fantastic start. Besides, Touya had technically found the building on his own - it just hadn't been until after he'd already been roped into talking with N.

"I'm sure Touya is capable of navigating the city on his own," N replied, and Touya had to admit that it felt kind of nice to be defended for once.

"That's right," Touya agreed, though it came out way less confident that he'd intended. Bianca managed to stifle her laughter, but Touko didn't even try to stop snickering.

After Touko's laughter had naturally petered out, Bianca spoke up. "This food is really good, Touya."

"Thanks, but N helped." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to throw that in there; all he'd really done was open himself up to more comments from Touko about how adorable they were together.

"I was only following instructions," N pointed out.

"That's true, but there are a lot of people who'd still mess it up." Touya looked at Touko pointedly - he'd tried to teach her to cook an innumerable amount of time. Touya turned back to face N. "I think it came out really well. Thanks for helping me."

N looked as if he was about to reply, but he was interrupted by Touko clapping her hands together. Rarely did Touya find anything more terrifying than when his sister was excited and he didn't know the reason for it.

"You're talking!" she exclaimed, and Touya blinked in surprise, because that was honestly not what he'd been expecting.

"... It does happen," he responded, feeling just a little bit defensive. He _had_ talked at other points during the dinner. Maybe not that much, but still.

"Yeah, but usually only in response to questions. You're willingly conversing with people. Or, it's really that you're just willingly conversing with a _certain_ _person_."

Touya decided that the address really, _really_ needed to start. Preferably before Touko said anything else.

* * *

**A/N:** I had fully intended to have the address occur in this chapter; however, due to me getting my timeline mixed up, I realized that I'd have to make Touya go grocery shopping immediately as opposed to the next day, when the address was supposed to be. Originally the food shopping and dinner making was going to be completely glossed over, so it's kind of funny how it worked out.

So, normally I don't assume major things that aren't stated in canon, but when I was thinking about what Touya should make I felt really weird about potentially having N eat meat. Since it's mentioned in-game that people eat Pokemon and I don't see any normal animals running around, it makes sense that all meat = Pokemon.

On a final note, you may be wondering where Zorua is. I completely forgot to include him in the last chapter, so I couldn't make him magically appear in this chapter. Let's just go with him being asleep the entire time.


	7. The Address

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 7: The Address -**

The dinner had thankfully come to an end in a little under fifteen minutes, and whether Touko chose to take pity on Touya or simply ran out of ways to embarrass him, nothing especially mortifying had come up.

Once dinner had concluded, the dishes had been tossed into the sink and left for later. Not only would it have been odd to immediately begin washing dishes, but the address was due to start in five minutes.

Hence the reason why everyone was currently figuring out where to sit. The tiny television set was located directly in front of a clean but slightly cheap sofa, which was a pale shade of red - an unusually bold choice for such an otherwise neutral decor.

Aside from the questionable colour, there was another problem; namely, the fact that the sofa only sat three people. All four of them stared at it for a moment, and both Touko and Touya wondered how they'd managed to miss that particular feature.

After a couple of seconds, Touko gently grabbed Bianca. Pulling her along, she plunked both of them down onto the couch, with Bianca sitting against the armrest and Touko leaning in her direction, as off-centre as the limited space allowed.

Touko had no problems with personal space, and Bianca was either too polite to say anything or was alright with it because it was Touko with whom she was kissing elbows.

Touya, however, was a different matter. He reasoned that he could probably survive if he was shoved against his sister for an hour - although that scenario was really not optimal in the slightest, mainly because physical contact was, well,_ physical contact_. And if he could only uncomfortably tolerate his sister, then it pretty much went without saying that anyone else was out of the question.

And as things stood, he and N would have to be situated right next to each other, which was somehow even worse than sitting next to anyone else for reasons that Touya couldn't identify.

"Both of you, sit down already," Touko said exasperatedly. Slowly, Touya shook his head.

"I'll take the floor." Touya was already leaning down when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around.

"That isn't necessary," N said, quickly withdrawing his hand and looking as if he had no idea why he'd just reached out to stop Touya.

"How about you both sit on the floor," Touko suggested half-seriously, rolling her eyes. She reached over Bianca to grab the remote from a nearby side-table, and the TV flicked on at the press of a button. "You two are being ridiculous."

Touya went ahead and took a seat on the ground, craning his head to look at N. "You're the guest." The unspoken implication being that N therefore had the right to the couch.

N settled himself onto the floor next to Touya, maintaining a somewhat respectable distance.

"Now that that's over," Touko began, "try not to talk. The address is starting, and if we have to watch it I want to be able to hear it."

Touya was about to point out that it was kind of unnecessary to bother to tell him not to talk before he realized that that would render his point null.

The television blared the Unova national anthem, and it came as a surprise to no one when none of them stood up and recited it. Being displaced from their homes had only made Touya, Touko, and Bianca's discontent with the government even worse, and for reasons Touya felt were obvious he had not expected N to recite it.

The anthem ended, and a man - some sort of government official, but Touya didn't recognize him - introduced President Sedia Crane. Not that she needed any introduction.

The screen flickered briefly, and suddenly Crane was staring out at the four of them through narrowed yellow eyes. Her silver hair was pulled neatly back into a crisp ponytail, and she was wearing the Unova military's dress uniform, a mix of pale grey and sky blue.

The camera was not focused solely on her; instead, it was pulled back, revealing more of her enormous office than one would expect. Touya spied movement in the shadows of the back of the room, and the reason for the panning out soon became clear as Crane's Pokemon thundered towards the desk where she was seated.

It stopped a couple feet short of her chair, leaving its elongated neck hanging over the dark brown wood of the desk. Crane didn't even bat an eye at the movement; Touya guessed that she was used to it.

He'd never understood how a person could look so much like their Pokemon. Superficially, Crane and her Kyurem shared roughly the same colour scheme - though some of this was intentional, given that the military uniform was based in part on Kyurem's appearance - it was more to do with how they both carried themselves. Neither made any unnecessary movements; for Crane, every flick of the wrist or tilt of the head was manufactured and controlled to provoke a desired response.

And their eyes. It wasn't just that they both possessed eyes that oddly pale shade of yellow. Their eyes were _cold_, like half-withered sunflowers frozen in blocks of ice.

Suffice it to say that Touya had always found Sedia Crane a very creepy and off-putting individual. Beyond the obvious intimidation factor of having an enormous, man-eating dragon as a partner, there was something about the President that Touya thought was downright terrifying.

"Citizens of Unova," Crane greeted in monotone, her voice betraying no emotion. "Welcome to this month's address. I will begin with a summary of last month's production statistics."

Touko groaned, voicing everyone her own displeasure as well as everyone else's. Statistics always came at the beginning, but their inevitability didn't make them any less boring.

"Arms production has increased by eleven percent. The output for soldier's rations has increased by fifteen percent, and the quality of rations has increased by nine percent."

Touya briefly wondered how on earth people went about quantizing food quality before he made the executive decision to tune Crane out until she finished going over production stats.

Crane continued on the same track, and Touya lost count as to how many minutes he'd been watching.

"Switching topics," Crane began after a while, and Touya immediately started paying attention, "I would like to take this time to remind merchants of any sort that we have strict sanctions placed on Kanto-Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and the Sevii Islands. There will be consequences should these sanctions be violated." Crane smiled, and Touya suppressed a shiver.

"Now, then. Unova has had great success abroad over the past month. Citizens, we've sunk entire fleets of Hoenn ships - Hoenn, whose navy had been thought to be the most powerful in the world. With the recent annihilation of a company of Kanto-Johto soldiers, we are most certainly on our way to winning this war."

So it was the same old message, essentially. The specifics changed, but the basic content never did.

"I have one final issue to discuss, this one domestic in nature. Reconstruction has begun at the Second Chasm, where it has been decided that factories will be built. These factories will prove crucial to the war effort, and the influx of new supplies upon their completion will allow our troops to return that much faster."

Touya found this final bit somewhat interesting. The Second Chasm had been around for as long as he could remember; he'd learned in school that it had been created more than a decade before he was born.

There used to be a city there - Black City, if Touya was recalling the name correctly. It, along with the surrounding White Forest, had been completely destroyed by Crane when she took power.

Touya had always been taught that Crane had destroyed the city because it had become corrupt. Touya thought that the eradication of an entire city wasn't really one person's decision to make.

"This concludes the address. Good night." Crane gave a curt nod, and the screen darkened before switching to normal programming. A woman was speculating - though not too wildly, of course - about some of Crane's remarks during her speech.

Touko turned off the television, stood up, and stretched. "Well, I'm glad that's over! I swear, those statistics just keep getting more and more outrageous. How can we keep increasing our production rates by that much on a regular basis?"

N stood as well. Not wanting to be left alone on the floor, Touya followed suit. "We can't," N began, and Touya just knew that this was going to become very anti-government, very quickly. Though the idea bothered him less than it would have a couple days ago. "The production statistics as given in the address are consistently false."

Bianca pulled herself off of the couch. Nodding in agreement with N, she was the next one to speak. "A lot of what Crane says isn't true. And she works at night, doesn't she?" The question was asked almost hesitantly, as if Bianca was unsure about something.

A flicker of surprise flashed across N's face, too quick for the others to catch, and Touya felt uneasy.

"... That is correct. Though most prefer to believe that it's afternoon."

Well, that was confusing. N glanced at Touya; seeing the almost apologetic look N was wearing, Touya relaxed marginally. But he still had no idea what was going on.

N broke the silence, rescuing it before it descended into the realm of awkwardness. "I live on the other side of the city, and given the current time I should be returning home. Thank you for having me over."

"Sure," Touko said, still a little baffled.

Touya walked with N towards the door and opened it for him. N stood at the mantle for a moment, looking as if he was considering whether or not to tell Touya something.

"What is it?" Touya asked, lowering his voice just slightly. Admittedly, this was somewhat unnecessary since Touko and Bianca had started chatting.

"Could you walk back with me?"

"Okay," Touya replied, not really knowing what he was getting himself into. He suspected that it had something to do with Bianca, but he wasn't really sure what that something _was_, exactly.

Exiting into the hallway, Touya shut the door behind them.

Once they'd left the building and had begun walking towards the Team Plasma headquarters, Touya decided that he was going to give in to his curiosity and pose the question that he'd been dying to ask.

Unless he was misreading things, N had asked him along for that purpose. And if he did turn out to be completely wrong, then he could always apologize.

"What was Bianca talking about?"

N regarded Touya for a moment before answering. "Among government dissidents, there are certain code words and phrases that seem innocuous but in reality possess double meanings. You've heard of the civil war in Orre?"

Touya nodded. Since it didn't have to do with Unova, the civil war wasn't reported on that often, though it did still get a few minutes of coverage here and there.

"The reason for the war is that one side wants to legalize the use and creation of shadow Pokemon, whereas the other side does not. Officially, Unova is neutral on this matter. Unofficially, Crane is supporting the shadow side. The phrase your friend used - 'working at night' - refers to Crane's association with the shadow Pokemon supporters. 'Afternoon' is the term for neutrality."

"Bianca couldn't have known that. Maybe she meant something else?"

N shook his head. "She looked as if she understood my response."

Touya didn't know what to make of what N was telling him. He found it hard to believe that N would just lie to him, especially without a reason, and N and Bianca's brief conversation had definitely been a little odd.

Assuming N's assumption was correct, then what the hell was going on?

"I don't know what to do," Touya admitted helplessly. He knew he'd have to ask Bianca about it eventually, but he didn't know when the right time would be or even how he should go about it.

"You don't have to choose now," N pointed out. "There's always time to think."

They approached the Plasma building's doorway, and Touya realized that he hadn't even noticed how long they'd been walking. "Thanks for telling me about Bianca."

"It wouldn't have been proper to keep it from you."

Touya wondered why N always felt the need to downplay his actions, whether it be cooking or going out of his way to make sure Touya was informed about what was happening.

Wishing N a good night, Touya set out for his apartment.

* * *

**A/N:** I really like working with Crane, mainly because she's easy to write for. I wasn't really planning on her address being more than production stats and some propaganda, but I threw in the mention of the Second Chasm at the last minute, as it was going to come up eventually anyway.

The civil war in Orre isn't supremely important, but it was the first thing I thought of when trying to decide the code Bianca should use. It was hard figuring out what she could say that related to the war but also didn't sound completely idiotic out of context. Also, in case it's unclear: night = shadows, afternoon = between night and day, therefore = neutrality.


	8. Initiative

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 8: Initiative -**

To say that Touya had had a great deal of difficulty falling asleep last night would be an understatement. He'd been trying to figure out what to make of the whole 'Bianca is possibly anti-government' situation, which didn't really make it easy to fall asleep. In fact, he was still kind of wondering what to do about it.

In what Touko would have described as a miracle, Touya had actually woken up earlier than she had. Since there was still nothing edible for breakfast, Touya settled for kicking his legs through the air and clacking his fingertips against the table. Oshawott gave him a look that implied that he thought his owner might be the slightest bit insane.

"I'm just bored," Touya explained, and Oshawott padded over and butted his head lightly against Touya's cheek. Which actually made Touya feel a little better about everything. "And I'm not sure what to do right now."

In the middle of petting Oshawott, it occurred to Touya that, when Touko woke up, she would most likely be able to figure out that something was bothering him, and then a potentially awkward conversation would ensue.

Within seconds, Touya was on his feet, grabbing his bag and telling Oshawott that he was going to be back soon.

Slowly and quietly, he opened and shut the door to his apartment, slipping out into the hallway and into the elevator. As he was about to leave the building, Touya noticed that one of the mail lights was on, indicating that one of the complex's tenants had received some sort of letter or small package.

Touya glanced at the box for a moment, trying desperately to remember the number for his apartment and therefore his mailbox. Numbers had never stood out in his mind, as he was better suited to pictures and words. He'd found that simply remembering what the door to his apartment looked like plus the floor it was on was enough to locate it.

At least he knew that the box had to be on the fourth row. Since the light that was on was for a fourth row mailbox, Touya decided to punch in his code - thankfully composed of letters, not numbers - and see if it worked. If it did, fantastic; if it didn't, then all he'd have done was waste a minute in the lobby.

Lo and behold, the mailbox swung upon, revealing a single envelope. Touya was confused for a second, as Cheren couldn't possibly have received his letter and sent a reply in such a short time span.

Flipping the letter over, Touya saw that it was from his mother. The person he'd completely forgotten to send a letter to.

Touya tried to ignore the massive wave of guilt currently washing over him and pried open the envelope, slipping out its contents. Absently, he let himself out of the building and began walking slowly towards the factory.

Or, he hoped he was walking towards the factory. Trying to find his way to any location while reading a letter probably wasn't a good idea.

Looking a bit more closely, Touya discovered that the envelope actually contained two different letters - one from his mother, and one from Cheren. He started on the one from Cheren first. It was short and succinct, with no superfluous words or flowery language.

So exactly like how Cheren actually spoke, basically.

The gist of the letter was that Cheren was going to be temporarily back from abroad and that he would be visiting his parents along with Touya and Touko in Nuvema before making a stop in Castelia to see Bianca. Since Cheren was coming to Castelia anyway, Touya hoped that Cheren wouldn't be too annoyed that he and Touko weren't where Cheren left them.

It wasn't that Cheren was opposed to change in general; rather, he was just opposed to change that he didn't personally have control over.

Before moving on to his mother's letter, Touya spared his surroundings a quick glance to check that he was on the right path. Confirming that the buildings looked at least somewhat familiar, he went back to reading the letter.

In her letter, Touya's mother asked how he and Touko were doing and described the little activity that was going on in Nuvema. At the end, she wrote that she'd make sure to tell Cheren what had happened and where their current address was.

Judging from the postmark on Cheren's letter, Touya guessed that he could potentially show up any day now. While Touya was definitely glad that he was going to be able to see Cheren, his visit was just one more thing that Touya would have to deal with.

Distantly, Touya's mind registered the fact that he'd reached his destination, and he stopped in his tracks. He felt absurdly proud of himself for making it to somewhere in Castelia that wasn't his own apartment.

Two massive, dull grey metal doors were swung open over the entrance to the factory, a hulking mass of dirty brick and spiraling smokestacks. Since Touya had left earlier than usual, work hadn't technically begun yet.

Just as Touya was about enter, he spotted a recognizable green and white hat atop a mess of blond hair. Surprised, he waited until Bianca noticed him. Once she had, a grin broke out across her face and she rushed towards him excitedly.

"Hello!" she greeted. "But, why are you here so early? And where's Touko?"

"Touko's still at the apartment," Touya responded, buying time for an answer to Bianca's first question. Literally nothing was coming to him, but he should be capable of at least formulating some sort of excuse. "I... I'm just here early. For no reason."

That had sounded marginally less stupid in his head.

Bianca looked a little confused, but politely chose not to comment on the matter. "I'm here early because... I don't know exactly, but I'm sure it's something good! The factory manager told me to come by early today since he had something to tell me."

By no stretch of the imagination did Touya consider being called to work early 'something good', but he wasn't about to say so. He kept silent - he was almost convinced that if he spoke further, he'd accidentally say something incriminating that would reveal what he'd learned last night from N.

"Well," Bianca began after a beat, perhaps sensing Touya's unwillingness to talk, "I should probably be going. Bye, Touya."

Bianca smiled and turned around, stepping through the looming entryway and disappearing into the gloomy interior. Touya continued to loiter outside of the entrance, growing increasingly bored.

He was beginning to think that he should have killed time elsewhere before heading to work.

* * *

Work had gone slowly and awkwardly, consisting mostly of Touya attempting to dodge as many of Touko's probing questions as possible. Having just finished work, Touya was now - upon Touko's insistence - waiting outside the factory for Bianca. Even though Touya'd already explained that Bianca was likely in some sort of meeting, since Touko hadn't seen Bianca all day she wanted to confirm that Bianca was alright.

Touya didn't even know why he was waiting, considering that he wasn't going straight back to the apartment. And even if he were, since he'd made it to the factory on his own while preoccupied with letter-reading, his chances of getting back were looking pretty good.

He was about to suggest to Touko that she wait for Bianca while he headed off, but just as he was preparing to do so Bianca exited and started to approach them. Touya couldn't exactly leave now.

"Touya told me you were called here early. What happened?" Touko asked eagerly, dying for information.

"Oh." Bianca smiled shyly, rubbing the back of her neck self-consciously. "I was promoted to overseer of the packaging section."

Touya murmured his congratulations, if only because he felt as if he had to say something. Under normal circumstances he would have felt happy for Bianca, but it didn't seem like the new job suited her very well - if there was one thing Bianca was terrible at, it was confrontation. She'd always hated saying anything that could possibly offend someone, and with a job that put her in a position above others, hurting people's feelings almost certainly came with the territory.

"Could you have refused if you'd wanted to?" Touko asked evenly, dropping her grin. Bianca gave her a confused look.

"I'm not sure. I was kind of excited about it, so I didn't think about refusing."

"You were excited?" Touko sounded skeptical, with a pinch of befuddlement thrown in for good measure. "I thought you hated working at the factory."

Bianca stiffened, and in an instant she'd gone from cheery and at ease to nervous and on edge. The information Touya had on Bianca came to mind - perhaps her newfound enthusiasm for the mandatory work had to do with her new position.

Would an overseer have access to any sort of sensitive material? Touya was leaning towards saying no; all Bianca's new job entailed was making sure people were boxing rations and other supplies correctly. There was no way that would lead to a necessity to see secret documents.

But if Bianca continued to advance, that could change. Was this opportunity to gather information all it came down to?

"It's not that I... I mean..." Bianca stammered, growing more and more flustered. If Touya was bad at lying - which he was - then Bianca was positively_ dismal_ at it. Part of it was probably due to lack of practice; the only time Touya'd seen Bianca actually try to lie was one time when they were kids and she'd accidentally knocked over her dad's computer.

Though, when she'd attempted to lie back then, she'd burst into tears immediately afterwards and confessed everything. So, all things considered, she was doing a rather good job of it this time.

"I want to make the best of the situation I'm in. So I've decided that I'm going to be happy with whatever happens because of my job."

Since Bianca was absurdly optimistic, her explanation was surprisingly believable. If it weren't for his extra knowledge of Bianca's situation and her earlier stuttering, Touya would have probably believed her completely.

"If you're sure," Touko said slowly. Touko was far less trusting than Touya, so it was practically a given that she thought something was up.

"Of course I am!"

No one spoke for an increasing number of seconds, and Touya resisted the urge to flee to safety. 'Safety' in this case being his next destination, the Plasma headquarters, which weren't actually that safe to begin with, but still.

He wanted to talk to N more about the situation with Bianca - Touya needed to have all of his facts straight before he confronted her.

"Bianca, do you want to come back with us?" Touko was making an effort to smile, to dispel the slightly awkward mood. "If you stay for dinner, I'm sure I can convince Touya to make something even though it's not his turn."

"Sorry," Touya interjected, just loud enough to catch Touko and Bianca's attention, "but I'm not going home right now."

"Where are you going?" Bianca asked, a mixture of polite interest and curiosity.

"I bet you're going to visit N," Touko cut in excitedly. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Touya nodded, if somewhat reluctantly. Touko directed her attention back towards Bianca.

"You'll have to deal with instant food, but can you still come over?"

"Sure, Touko," Bianca agreed.

"Great!" Touko grabbed Bianca by the hand and started dragging her in the direction of the apartment. "See you later, Touya!"

* * *

It took Touya about fifteen minutes and only two wrong turns before he ended up outside the Team Plasma building. He was beginning to think that he was getting the hang of finding his way around a major city.

Tentatively, he went up to the entrance. This time, he made absolutely sure to knock and wait instead of barging in. Most private buildings had security cameras outside, so he assumed that the feed would be checked. He'd probably be there waiting until N could confirm that he wasn't a government employee or a spy or something.

Five minutes later, the door opened and Touya was startled out of the mental game he'd had going to pass the time. N stood on the other side of the threshold, giving him a curious look. Touya wasn't sure if it was the way N was carrying himself or just some microexpression he was picking up on, but N seemed exhausted.

Zorua hung onto N's shoulder, giving Touya a single, annoyed yelp before trying to make himself comfortable.

"Are you alright?" Touya asked, momentarily forgetting the reason he'd come in the first place.

N leaned against the doorway, pausing before giving his answer. Touya wondered if he was considering downplaying his current condition. "... Not exactly. We're in a very tricky situation at the moment; a situation to which I have been attempting to find a solution for past sixteen hours."

That was unhelpfully vague, but it wasn't as if Touya could fault N for it. And at least it proved that Touya was right about N being tired. Assuming N's assessment of time was accurate - and Touya was sure it was, because N seemed like the kind of person who'd remember the exact time, down to the minute, he woke up or did anything of importance - N hadn't gotten any sleep since last night.

N rapped his fingers against the doorframe, a meaningless gesture that he didn't seem to notice.

"Sorry to interrupt you," Touya said, embarrassed at having picked a horrendous time to drop by.

"There isn't a need to apologize." N glanced away for a moment, as if considering something. "It's possible that the problem will have been solved by tomorrow, so would you consider coming by then?"

Touya nodded, grateful that N wasn't annoyed and was even suggesting a meeting time. At the back of the room, one of the two elevators dinged open. There was a worried shout from the inside of it.

"I have to go," N said, standing up straight in preparation for leaving. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Touya wasn't sure if N had meant for it to come out as a question, but he nodded in answer anyway. Gently, N closed the door, presumably returning to whatever task he'd been called away from.

* * *

**A/N:** So, there wasn't much of N in this chapter, but there were other things that had to be dealt with. He's going to be around a lot in the next chapter, at least.

Kind of random, but when I was writing the last part of this chapter, I imagined that the game Touya was playing in his head was _shiritori_, a Japanese word game. It's technically supposed to be played between two people, but it can also be used to keep boredom at bay when you've got only yourself and your mind for entertainment.


	9. Demonstration

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 9: Demonstration -**

Today was a day off, one shared with Touko and Bianca. Touya had made sure to set his alarm and wake up earlier than he usually would have liked. He knew that he was avoiding the issue and that it would eventually catch up with him, but he wanted to put off talking with Touko as long as possible.

He'd slipped out of the apartment about twenty minutes after he'd awoken, and the speedy transition from being fully asleep to walking briskly had left him a little dazed. He was not someone who woke up quickly.

Oshawott chirped at Touya from atop his head, and Touya noticed that he was about to make a wrong turn. He chose not to dwell on the fact that his Pokemon had a better sense of direction than he did.

Soon enough, Touya arrived right outside the Plasma building. Just as he did yesterday, he knocked and waited until the door opened, revealing a man with bright red hair. He was a couple of inches taller than Touya.

Touya tried to remember if this man was the same one he'd accidentally interrupted the first time he'd stepped foot in the building. Since he had fled fairly quickly, he hadn't exactly gotten a good look.

Not that it really mattered, he supposed. It would probably be better if this wasn't the same person, anyway.

The man's eyes flicked upwards. Either he was used to seeing Pokemon perched on people's heads or he just didn't care, as his expression remained impassive.

"If you'll come with me, I'll escort you to Commander N."

... That sounded like a pretty important title. Obviously Touya had known that N was the leader of this organization, but to hear him addressed with such respect was a little odd, especially since Touya'd never used any sort of title when talking with him.

The man turned away and began heading towards the elevator on the left. During the elevator ride, Touya had the thought that one never really appreciated the height of a building until they had to ride in an elevator with a stranger for three minutes.

The doors opened, and the Plasma member motioned for Touya to exit, which he gladly did. The doors slid shut behind Touya as he stepped forward.

The room looked like it was created specifically for training. The walls and floor were both padded, presumably to cushion any collisions against them. The lines of what Touya assumed to be a battlefield of some sort were painted on the floor in bright white.

If a battle had been taking place, it had halted once Touya had entered the room. N was looking in his direction and almost-smiling, which Touya took to be a good sign. The fact that he'd even been shown upstairs to begin with was promising as well.

The other trainer - a brunette, which was nice, because Touya was beginning to think that every member except for N had red hair - merely looked confused at the interloper, but as N wasn't objecting, she kept silent. A Purrloin idled at her feet, absently licking his paws.

"I'm glad you could come by. I realize that you most likely have a question for me, but before that, would you be interested in watching a Pokemon battle?"

Touya tried not to be offended by N automatically assuming that Touya had an ulterior motive for meeting him. Not that he was wrong, of course, but Touya didn't think that he had to have a reason to visit N.

But when had that become the case?

Regardless, there was N's offer to deal with. While Touya did want N's opinion as soon as possible, a tiny part of him was admittedly intrigued by the prospect of witnessing a battle.

"Osha! Shawott!" Touya tried to meet Oshawott's eyes by rolling his skyward.

"You want to watch a battle?" he asked slowly, only half sure he was interpreting his Pokemon's speech correctly. Oshawott nodded his head vigorously, and Touya turned his eyes back towards N.

"I guess we'll be watching."

N nodded. "I would recommend that you step back against the wall."

Touya did as he was told, pressing against the soft wall furthest from the battlefield. N turned his attention to the trainer across from him, and she immediately straightened up. On some unspoken cue, the battle began.

"Purrloin, use Scratch!"

The lithe Purrloin shot forward, claws outstretched, moving more quickly than its previously relaxed demeanor had belied.

N's eyes met Zorua's for a split second, and the air around the Pokemon glinted. Unable to halt in time, the Purrloin slammed into the invisible barrier and was sent tumbling backwards onto the floor.

Amazed, Touya watched on. Oshawott wiggled energetically, occasionally contributing excited chirping noises to the sounds of the battle.

"Use Growl! And get to your feet, quickly!" the other trainer shouted.

"Dark Pulse," N advised Zorua, none of the panic that had crept into his opponent's voice evident in his own. Just as the Purrloin had managed to stand to his feet, Zorua rushed his foe, letting loose a shadowy pulse of energy.

The Purrloin staggered momentarily before collapsing back onto the floor. He struggled to lift himself up, but was unable to do so.

"Can you still fight?" the trainer asked. Her Pokemon purred faintly in response.

"Purrloin wants to keep battling," N informed her. "But you shouldn't push him. We'll end the battle here, and you can bring him to the clinic."

The woman nodded stiffly, blushing in embarrassment. She gently picked up the fallen Pokemon and speed-walked towards the elevator, which pinged open almost immediately.

Zorua ran over to Touya and looked up at him curiously. "Zoru?"

"He'd like to know what you thought of the battle," N supplied helpfully.

"It was interesting," Touya answered truthfully. While 'interesting' was certainly ambiguous, he did mean it in the good sense of the word. Oshawott shimmied off of Touya's head and onto his shoulder before leaping off and hitting the ground. Touya was suddenly very glad that the floor was padded.

"Osha!" The Pokemon lightly butted Touya's leg as if to punctuate his statement.

"So you agree with me?" Touya asked, kneeling to pet Oshawott. N looked at him with interest.

"When I told you that I could speak to Pokemon, you seemed surprised. But you appear to understand Oshawott quite well."

"That's... kind of true, but it's_ only_ Oshawott, and I need context to understand him."

"It's still impressive."

Touya was about to reply when he remembered that he actually had a reason for visiting N, and that reason was not so he could discuss his ability to somewhat understand Oshawott.

"I was wondering if someone who wanted information would be glad to become a factory overseer," Touya said, hoping that N wouldn't be too thrown by the non sequitur.

"I can't speak for certain, but it would not surprise me. Overseers themselves do not have access to classified information, but, should an overseer be promoted, they would then be allowed access to pertinent facts that would otherwise be hidden."

N's confirmation, when combined with the fact that the Bianca Touya knew would have absolutely hated her new position, solidified what Touya had been thinking for the past few days.

As of now, there was no getting around it - Bianca was involved in anti-government activities. Touya might not know the extent of this involvement, but any sort of participation in dissident activities was extremely dangerous.

"Thank you. That's what I wanted to ask you about yesterday."

N asked his next question hesitantly, as if he were uncertain of its appropriateness. "Was your friend - Bianca, I believe - recently promoted?"

Touya nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry - I know what I just told you wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear. So, in return for me being the bearer of disappointing news, would you like to hear about what happened yesterday?"

Not that it was really N's fault that he'd had to confirm Touya's suspicions.

But though it hadn't really crossed Touya's mind, now that N mentioned it, Touya was sort of curious about what had been going on.

"I can't tell you everything, but it had to with one of our operatives. She discovered a very important bit of information, but she was caught halfway through her attempt to communicate it to us. We were trying to determine if there was a way to either rescue her or diffuse the situation."

"Was there?"

"No." N's expression darkened. "She was executed sometime last night."

"Oh," Touya said in a small voice. He didn't even know what the appropriate response was to finding out that someone had been murdered. He almost wanted to ask what kind of information was so important that it would warrant the sacrifice of a life, but he decided against it.

"The information she uncovered is invaluable. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it could be the key to ousting Crane."

Touya wondered if N was actually as bad at reading people as he thought. Or maybe Touya's curiosity was just that blatant.

At the same time, though, N's words only raised further questions. Questions that Touya didn't feel that it would be appropriate for him to pursue.

On a whim, Touya glanced at his watch. The watch face blinked the time back at him, and Touya felt a tiny spike of panic - it was already past the time Touya was supposed to have made dinner.

"Do you have to go?" N asked, evidently catching Touya panicked expression.

Touya nodded. He felt embarrassed about showing up, asking for information, and then leaving right afterwards. But at this point, he really did have to leave _right now_.

"Are you planning on coming by here tomorrow?" The question was phrased in N's usual level tone, but for a split second Touya almost thought he heard something else lying beneath the neutrality.

Hope?

"I'd like to, if that's alright."

"Touya, you are always welcome to visit."

Touya didn't know why he was suddenly blushing, but he was, and, as usual, there wasn't anything he could do about it.

* * *

Touya stared down his apartment door, trying to figure out how to open it without the use of his hands. He'd had to stop off at the grocery story - the same one he'd gone to with N, incidentally - because he wasn't capable of cooking with air.

He'd also picked up something that was actually edible for breakfast. Consistently skipping breakfast probably wasn't a good idea, and though Touko didn't have that problem, unless Touya went out and bought food, Touko generally wound up eating from random boxes or bags whose contents were almost assuredly expired.

Touya was pretty sure that if Touko died young, it would be from food poisoning.

Touya glared at the door, but it refused to bow to his gaze, instead barricading him off from his remaining stoically door-like. Touya gave up and gently set down both grocery bags, fished his I.D. out of his pocket, and slid it through the scanner.

He pushed the door open and subsequently stopped dead in his tracks.

Any conversation that had been going on had now halted, and the room's three occupants looked back at him.

"Welcome back!" Touko greeted. Upon noticing Touya's abandoned grocery bags, she began walking towards the door to grab them. Bianca smiled and waved at him.

Cheren regarded Touya calmly, though he thought that Cheren's expression might have held just the barest hint of a smile. Cheren was always difficult to read.

"You're late," Cheren noted. Touya mentally sighed; he'd almost forgotten how impolite Cheren could be sometimes. Though Cheren _had _repeatedly insisted that it was all entirely accidental, and given the confusion that he usually displayed when being told how rude he was, Touya was inclined to believe him.

And at this point, Touya was essentially used to it. There was no way a person could be Cheren's friend if they were annoyed by a little rudeness.

"... It's good to see you, too."

* * *

**A/N:** I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for two reasons - one, it's my first time writing a Pokemon battle (... I hope it turned out alright) and two, Cheren's here!

You may have noticed by this point that there has been no mention of Ghetsis. I figured I'd address this just so it's clear that he hasn't slipped my mind - there is an actual reason regarding why he hasn't appeared. It may not be explained for a while, but it's definitely going to come up in the story eventually.


	10. Suspicions

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 10: Suspicions -**

Touya had tried to make dinner as quickly as possible. He thought that serving four people more than decent food in under fifteen minutes was quite impressive, but Touko and Cheren hadn't really shared his opinion.

After getting the food onto the plates at a pace that was evidently too slow for some people, Touya sat down at the table.

"So, what were you doing that was so important that you forgot that it was your turn to make dinner?" Touko asked. There was too much innocence in her voice for her not to know the answer to her question. Or to think that she knew the answer.

... Though the chance that she did have the correct answer was pretty high, actually.

"I'd like to know that as well," Cheren added. Sometimes, Touya regretted being surrounded by insanely curious people.

"I had to ask N about something." Touya was preparing to explain to Cheren who N was, but Touko elaborated before he had the chance to do so.

"N is Touya's new friend."

"You made a friend?" Cheren asked skeptically. Touya glared at him, because he had actually managed to make friends before. Like Cheren and Bianca and... that was about it, and Bianca had been Touko's friend first, but still. It was the principle of the matter.

"Yes, and he's been visiting him almost everyday. I think it's so -" Touya hoped to whatever deities existed that she was not going to say 'cute' or anything remotely related to that horrible word - "interesting!"

Not really the word Touya was expecting, to be honest.

Bianca frowned in puzzlement. "How is it interesting?"

"Consider this," Cheren began, and Touya just knew that this was going to be some sort of lengthy analysis of his social skills. Or, rather, lack thereof. "It's unusual for Touya to willingly associate with someone who isn't myself, Bianca, or direct family. I assume he's only known this person for a week at most, and to go from strangers to visiting every day is a vast leap for someone with Touya's difficulties."

At this point, Touya was considering the merits of blatantly ignoring everyone.

"It isn't very nice to say 'difficulties', Cheren."

Okay, so, everyone except Bianca.

"... Regardless, it's true. And that's why it's interesting." Cheren turned his attention back towards Touya. "What is it about this person that you like?"

There was no way Touya was subjecting himself to this. He let a beat of silence elapse.

"How has the military been so far?"

A tactful change of subject that was not, but Cheren merely rolled his eyes and let it slide.

"It hasn't been awful. Warfare is a test of skill. It's almost... not entertaining, but engaging. At times, there's only myself and Servine faced with the opposing soldier and his partner. It's the on the fly strategizing that's both the most rewarding and the most brilliant."

Bianca's eyes widened in shock. "But, Cheren, you're killing people." The last part came out as little more than a whisper.

There had been moments when they were growing up that Touya had been slightly worried by Cheren's lack of empathy. His sense of empathy had seemed almost selective at times - he would never_ intentionally_ offend someone he liked, but if he accidentally offended them, he often didn't care. But he was protective of people in his own way, and there was no way that he'd ever take joy in killing someone.

To put it simply, Touya knew that Cheren wasn't a bad person. Just one with 'difficulties'.

"I know that."

And now the conversation was awkward, mainly because bringing up murder, no matter how state-sanctioned, was an almost surefire conversation killer.

Touya's eyes flitted nervously around the table as he waited for someone to speak. But after a couple of seconds of silence, in a rare show of assertiveness, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

"You said 'Servine'. Did Snivy evolve?"

Cheren relaxed minutely, and Touko shot him a grateful look. "Yes. She evolved about a month ago. She ran off earlier to play with Tepig and Munna, but whenever she decides to show up, you can see for yourself."

That explained why Oshawott had immediately rushed towards the back of the apartment - he'd probably sensed his friends in one of the rooms.

"You mentioned in one of your letters that you couldn't tell us where you were stationed. Now that you're here in person, can you tell us?" Touko asked.

That seemed to Touya to be a slightly dangerous question. At the very least, it wasn't the sort of question a person would ask unless they absolutely trusted every single person in the room.

Given all that had happened recently regarding Bianca, complete trust wasn't exactly something he could manage at the moment. But he knew that there was no way that Bianca or Cheren would ever betray either of them, and, for now, that was enough.

Cheren nodded. It went without saying that what he was about to say was not to be spoken of to anyone else. "I was stationed in Sinnoh."

"Where were you, exactly?"

"A place called Snowpoint City," Cheren answered, frowning. "As the name suggests, it snowed constantly."

Touya tried to recall the basics of Sinnoh geography that he'd learned in elementary school. He had an image of a continent branching out from some sort of central object, but wasn't sure if that was correct.

Come to think of it, after second grade, he hadn't actually studied anything related to other regions. It was probably to foster some sort of nationalistic sense of affection for Unova, but wasn't there some sort of saying about that sort of knowledge?

Know your enemy. Or enemies, as the case might be.

Of course, whether Sinnoh was an 'enemy' or not was up for debate.

"That's on the northern tip of Sinnoh, right? With the snow, it must have been really cold!" Bianca sympathized. Touya wondered how she could remember Snowpoint City's location if he couldn't. And had they ever learned the locations of individual foreign cities?

"It was. Though the lake wasn't frozen, oddly enough."

"Is there something special about the lake?" Touko asked. Touya wondered if Touko was just grasping for topics of conversation or if she was genuinely curious about the matter. Knowing her, it was probably the latter.

"Not particularly. There's a legend that a rare Pokemon lives there, but when my company investigated the lake, we found a hidden group of Sinnoh soldiers - not a mysterious Pokemon."

"Speaking of soldiers," Touko began, "Crane mentioned in her address that a whole bunch of Kanto-Johto soldiers had been 'annihilated'. I thought our policy was to defeat the opposing side as quickly as possible and then take prisoners."

"That hasn't been true for months. Though it isn't a change that most civilians would notice."

Touya desperately hoped that no one was planning on bringing up murder again.

"Well, they should," Touko objected.

"Probably."

Cheren had a knack for slaying conversations with his abrupt replies. Usually, it was only the effort of other people actually interested in maintaining the conversation that saved it from the brink of death.

"But the changes are planned so that they're not noticed," Bianca pointed out.

"Obviously. When a policy is changed, Crane determines the best way to announce the change without actually doing so - it's a very subtle shift."

"... How do you two know this?" Touko asked.

Cheren and Bianca each reacted quite differently to the probing question. Whereas Bianca froze, eyes widening, Cheren simply turned his impassive gaze towards Touko. His expression betrayed nothing.

Touya found that he was rather interested in the answer to the question himself. He expected Bianca to know certain things that she wasn't supposed to, but even though Cheren had an almost suicidal sense of curiosity, he shouldn't have classified information.

Unless he was involved in the same sort of thing as Bianca.

While Cheren participating in anti-government activity was far more believable than Bianca doing so, it was still somewhat farfetched.

But Cheren wasn't going to be in Castelia for long, and so the window that Touya had to talk to him about his suspicions was already beginning to dwindle. Touya considered confronting both Cheren and Bianca at the same time, but wasn't sure if that was the best option.

"Through deductive reasoning," Cheren answered, not missing a beat. "It's easy to infer that Crane is a careful planner, and we know that she does enact changes in policy and in other areas."

It was a response that made sense, but there was something off. Cheren had a tendency to use far more words than necessary when he was lying, almost as if he thought that if he threw enough words into the fray, then the people he was deceiving would be so distracted that they wouldn't notice the lie.

Add to that the fact that Cheren had bothered to get into specifics regarding his knowledge of Crane. Cheren never stated something as fact unless he was completely sure about it - hypotheticals, inferences, and the like were always prefaced with a disclaimer.

So, despite his calm exterior, there was a high chance that Cheren was lying.

Touya had said that he'd try to drop by the Team Plasma headquarters tomorrow - if he was visiting anyway, he figured that he might as well use the time to also get N's opinion on the matter.

Not that that was at all necessary, but Touya would feel slightly more calm if he received another person's input.

To Touya's surprise, Cheren slid out of his chair and pushed his former seat back into its place quickly and efficiently.

"The facilities for soldiers back on leave closes soon," he explained.

"I've heard that the rooms are really cramped, though..." Bianca murmured with concern. "And you'd have to have a roommate, too."

"Why don't you stay here?" Touko asked. Seeing Cheren gearing up to object, Touko cut him off. "You're _already_ here, so you wouldn't have to go anywhere tonight. And you'll have roommates that you actually like. _And_, I'm sure that Touya would be willing to take the couch, so you could use his bed."

Touya didn't mind sleeping on the couch for a couple of days, but he was a little annoyed that Touko would just offer his room without asking.

Cheren looked at Touko coolly, but Touya thought that he was probably considering any possible escape routes. It wasn't that Cheren hated the idea of staying with them - or, at least, Touya was_ fairly _sure that wasn't the case - but he never liked imposing on someone, even if it was an open offer.

"Alright," Cheren agreed, with the air of a person simply indulging someone else.

The thought occurred to Touya that, with Cheren staying at their apartment, it would be very difficult to get him and Bianca alone. Touya was beginning to regret not putting up a fight when Touko had extended her invitation to Cheren.

* * *

**A/N:** I didn't actually intend for this chapter to take a dark turn. ... In retrospect, though, I should have expected something like that with Cheren involved. And just to make things absolutely clear, Cheren isn't saying that he enjoys killing people - more that he enjoys thinking up strategies to avoid getting himself killed. It's just that these almost invariably end in the murder of the other person.

Also, this is probably a good time to mention that there will eventually be side stories. Aside from one (which you'll probably want to read anyway, as it's going to concern N), they'll all be optional, as instead of being integral to the plot, they'll simply shed light on some of the side characters. Crane's is already mostly written, but the first one to come up will most likely be Cheren's.

So, there have been chapters where N hasn't really appeared much (... like this one). I am happy to inform you that that is going to change very, very soon.


	11. Volition

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 11: Volition -**

As it turned out, spending a night on a cheap, government-provided couch was not exactly conducive to a good night's sleep. Touya all but rolled off of the uncomfortable piece of furniture, standing up unsteadily and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

At some point during the night, Oshawott had evidently tumbled off of his spot on Touya's stomach, and it was only with great luck that Touya avoided accidentally stepping on him. Oshawott didn't so much as stir, and Touya carefully placed him back on the couch.

He slipped out of the apartment before Touko or Cheren awoke.

* * *

Work had been boring as usual, but it had also been oddly relaxing. Touya suspected that this side effect was only because he'd been more on edge than usual, as inspecting the airtight seals on supply boxes was not generally something he thought of as therapeutic.

Once again, Touko had roped him into waiting outside of the factory until Bianca emerged. As Touya loitered outside of the factory's enormous doors, he began second guessing his decision to visit N today.

Not that he didn't want to, but he realized that his basis for visiting N was pretty weak. He was already fairly sure that Cheren was involved in something at least somewhat related to anti-government activities, and he already knew for sure that Bianca was as well.

He felt as if he had to justify his visits in some way. But, honestly, at the rate he was going, it probably wouldn't be long before he stopped attempting to conjure up reasons for seeing N. And despite his questionable justification, Touya had a feeling that he was going to end up visiting N anyway.

As if to spare him from his thoughts, Bianca came walking out of the factory. Bianca greeted both of them pleasantly and wandered towards them. When Touko began walking towards the apartment and Bianca followed without a word, Touya assumed that Touko had talked to Bianca beforehand.

A natural lull in Bianca and Touko's conversation arose after a couple of minutes, and Touya saw his opportunity to duck out. Hastily explaining that he was heading to see N, he made a speedy escape before Touko could pester him with untoward comments.

* * *

Touya went through what was rapidly becoming a familiar procedure consisting of knocking and then waiting patiently. After roughly three minutes - a shorter response time, Touya noted, and he wondered if it was a coincidence or just the guards growing used to him - the door opened.

Instead of receiving an escort, Touya was instead simply ushered into one of the foyer's elevators and told to head to the twenty-seventh floor. Touya was flattered at the show of trust - the building was obviously not lacking in security, so giving him the ability to roam around it had to be intentional.

The elevator opened slowly, revealing a single, massive room. Touya spied doors towards the back, and he assumed that they led to other parts of the space. Books were haphazardly strewn about, stacked in precariously high piles. It looked like some attempt had been made at organization, but the only result was that the stacks were clustered together in some kind of mysterious pattern that only their owner could possibly be familiar with.

Touya stood awkwardly near the elevator for a moment before he decided to see if N was actually on the floor.

"N?" Touya called out hesitantly. He disliked raising his voice, but he made sure to pitch it high enough so that it could be heard even in the adjoining rooms. After a couple of seconds, N poked his head out of one of the doorways.

"Do you mind waiting just a moment?" he asked apologetically. Touya shook his head, and N ducked back inside the room. Presumably, he went back to what he'd been doing before Touya had entered - Touya heard the noise of things being shuffled around.

Touya carefully walked further into the main room, trying to decide which book pile to look at so that he'd have something with which he could pass the time. He was also curious to know what kind of genres N was interested in.

Touya had found that the type of books someone read was generally a pretty good indication of the kind of person they were.

Touya picked up the topmost book from a nearby stack, flipping to a random page. He allowed his eyes to flit towards the end of the page's first paragraph as he read the final sentence. His eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as he reread it.

_Once again, the conclusion is that, by any reasonable mechanism, the energy requirement would be significantly greater than allowed for under the uncertainty principle, and the first law of thermodynamics would be violated by action of a non-physical mind._

Touya tried reading the whole paragraph, starting at the beginning. Unsurprisingly enough, it was completely unhelpful. He stared at the book for a few seconds with some vain hope that it would magically make more sense.

After it did not in fact morph into a more understandable version of itself, Touya decided that it would probably be best to stop embarrassing himself further and put the book back in its place.

Just as he was about to do so, he realized that the sound of miscellaneous objects being moved around had been replaced by light footsteps. By the time it occurred to Touya that N had stopped whatever he'd been doing, N was already at his side. N's arm brushed Touya's as he leaned over to get a good look at what Touya had picked up, and Touya almost jumped at the contact.

He noted with surprise that this wasn't because the touch was unpleasant - just that it was unexpected.

"I don't understand anything in here," Touya confessed, hoping to head off any sort of discussion of whatever the topic was of the book he picked up. He checked the title line at the top, which actually managed to be as unhelpful as the book's contents.

N looked confused, as if it just didn't make sense to him for a person not to understand what they'd read. "What part do you find difficult?"

"This," Touya replied, finding the first sentence that had given him trouble and pointing to it. He thought that singling out the most challenging sentence was a better idea than admitting that he hadn't really processed any of what he'd read.

N scanned the sentence in just over two seconds, then looked back up at Touya. He wore a contemplative expression and was likely in the process of figuring out how to explain it to Touya.

"Context would help a great deal. It would likely make more sense if you were to read the entire chapter."

Touya was more than a little bit horrified at the prospect. Some - or most - of his horror must have shown on his face, because N's mouth quirked up into a smile of amusement. Touya got the feeling that N wanted to laugh, but was stopping himself from doing so.

Which was a shame, really, because Touya had never heard him laugh before, and he would have liked to hear it.

"I don't mind explaining it, however. The 'energy requirement' that the sentence refers to is the energy necessary for a non-physical mind - a 'soul' - to influence a physical brain. The uncertainty principle holds that some fluctuations in energy are too small to be detected. So, the meaning of the sentence is that the amount of energy a non-physical entity would need to cause a reaction in a human brain far exceeds the uncertainty principle. And since this non-physical influence hasn't been detected - whereas it would be if it existed - it does not exist. This massive use of energy would also violate the first law of thermodynamics, as energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Does that make more sense?"

As Touya allowed his brain to process the information, he was surprised to realize that it actually _was_ far more understandable than it had been before. He kind of wished that he'd had N around when he'd had to go to school - math and science had never really clicked with him, and he had a feeling that N would have been able to explain everything in a way that made sense.

Touya nodded his answer to N's question. But though he understood the sentence, he didn't think that he agreed with it, scientific evidence or not. "... Did that sentence just reject the existence of the soul?"

"Yes. That was the point of the essay."

"Do you believe? In souls, I mean?"

Since it seemed like half of the time his conversations with N veered in directions completely different than what he'd been anticipating, Touya was essentially taking this non sequitur of a conversation in stride.

He was also curious to hear N's answer. Touya felt like he could probably predict most people's responses based on their personality - for example, Bianca would definitely think that souls existed, whereas Cheren would likely dismiss the idea as ludicrous.

But while N did share Cheren's interest in science, his personality was so different from Cheren's that Touya found that he couldn't predict his response. It was almost a question of what would win out - logic or emotion?

Touya knew which one he was hoping for.

"I..." N hesitated, "I would like to. But there is scientific evidence that suggests -"

Though Touya never cut people off - most of the time he thought it was pretty rude, and he always hated when it was done to him - he thought that maybe now might be a good time to start.

"I don't think that all things can be proven."

Slowly, N smiled. "... Perhaps not."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. It was a comfortable silence, and one that Touya didn't want to break. Gently, he closed the book and set it back down in its former place. He flicked his eyes upwards to see N's expression, accidentally catching N's eyes.

Touya generally avoided eye contact. He didn't know what it was exactly, but he'd never been one of those people who looked others in the eye. It made him anxious.

Eye contact with N was different. Though the urge to look away was still present, it wasn't very insistent, and the majority of his brain seemed to want to overrule it. The feeling was different, too - Touya still felt that usual spike of nervousness, but there was something else.

A fluttering of sorts. Touya thought that this was a rather girly way of describing it, but it was all he could come up with. And it fit unfortunately well.

He hadn't noticed it before, but N's eyes were an unusual shade of grey. Grey was a rare eye colour to begin with, but N's eyes were just barely hued a faint green.

Just as Touya was mentally about to compare the green tinting N's eyes to the green of N's hair, he realized what he was actually doing. N was still smiling, which meant that he wasn't creeped out by... whatever the hell it was that Touya was doing, so that was good, but Touya still thought it best to quickly avert his eyes. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

"So," he began, a little self-conscious of the whole situation and suddenly aware of the fact that he and N were standing fairly close together, "I, um, I was going to ask you a question."

"But you aren't anymore?" N asked, immediately catching onto the way Touya had worded his sentence.

"Well, I think I already knew the answer," Touya admitted a little sheepishly. When he actually thought about it, the answer was pretty obvious. Really, it was less that he didn't know the answer - that Cheren had access to classified information - and more that he didn't _want _to know the answer. And since he was going to confront Cheren and Bianca tonight, it was definitely time to stop being in denial.

His reason for visiting N today had been weak to begin with. Now, it was essentially non-existent.

"If you already knew, then why did you come?" N sounded genuinely puzzled. Touya was a little hurt before he realized that maybe he was misinterpreting what N had said. N had admitted that he wasn't great around people, so it could just be an instance of him phrasing his question badly.

Maybe it wasn't that N assumed that Touya always had to have a motive for seeing him - maybe it was that N thought that _no one_ would want to see him without one. N's occasional self-deprecating behaviour might not only be modesty, but also an actual lack of self-esteem.

Touya found this idea to be completely baffling, because N was quite possibly the most interesting and intelligent person he'd ever met.

"I just wanted to see you. That's all."

He'd tacked on the last sentence in an attempt to downplay what he'd said, but it still sounded really, well, _suspect_. He was pretty sure that people didn't go around saying things like that.

He was a little worried at how N would react, but he'd felt as if he'd had to let N know that he was worth something - that Touya liked seeing him. Which was probably giving himself too much credit, because N really had no reason to value what Touya thought, but he still had some hope that it would work.

N's eyes widened, and he looked at Touya almost like he couldn't believe what Touya had just said. Since Touya himself was finding it kind of hard to believe as well, N's shock was somewhat understandable.

"Thank you," N said, still sounding a tiny bit perplexed but also downright thrilled. Touya couldn't stop himself from smiling.

N was blushing, and Touya would have liked to say that this time the tables were turned - only, he was as well. Though with N's pale skin, the flush of his cheeks was far more noticeable than Touya's.

And that was when Touya noticed that he was, once again, staring at N.

He had the sinking feeling that this was going to be a recurring thing from now on.

* * *

**A/N:** Though this chapter almost didn't get finished in time (... college applications :/), I enjoyed writing it. The plan was for Touya to talk to Cheren and Bianca in this chapter, but N and Touya ended up talking for longer than expected. Although I feel like I say this almost every time they talk to each other.

The sentence Touya's confused by is from an actual book. It's a collection of essays called _The Volitional Brain_, and I chose it because it's science-related and one of the more difficult books I own. I picked the sentence at random, but it ended up providing good conversation fodder.

I really struggled with how to phrase Touya's thoughts about N's 'why did you come?' question, for some reason. If they still don't make sense, I'd like to know so that I can attempt to fix the problem.


	12. Confrontation

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 12: Confrontation -**

Touya had left the Plasma headquarters soon after N had thanked him. It always seemed like being around N made Touya lose track of time - it was only due to setting the alarm on his watch earlier that Touya had realized that he had to leave.

He would have liked to stay longer, but if he waited too long, then it would be nigh impossible to kick Touko out of the apartment. Which, of course, raised the question of how exactly he was going to go about doing so.

He had a couple of options. He could simply tell her that he had something he wanted to discuss with Bianca and Cheren in private, but he had the feeling that she'd immediately ask what that something _was_.

He briefly toyed with the idea of somehow keeping her busy in another part of the apartment, but quickly dismissed it. With Touko's curiosity and her tendency to flit from activity to activity, there was no way that conducting a clandestine conversation under the same roof would be feasible.

Touya came to the conclusion that he definitely needed to get Touko out of the apartment. Only, he had to do it _subtlely_. Admittedly, subtlety was not one of his strong suits, but he was going to manage it somehow.

* * *

Touya felt like he really should have been able to come up with at least a mildly passable plan by now. He was already at the door to his apartment and in the process of scanning it open, and he literally had no idea what he was going to do.

He opened the door and was greeted by a conspicuous amount of silence. He scanned the room and, finding no one, decided that they'd probably gone out somewhere. Touya noticed Oshawott's head peeking over the couch. The little Pokemon was blinking heavily as if he'd just woken up. Touya hoped that he hadn't been sleeping all day, but, scarily enough, he couldn't completely discount the possibility.

"I guess you don't know where everyone went." Oshawott blinked some more before glancing around the room. Noticing that everyone had left, Oshawott made a small noise that sounded slightly mournful.

"They'll be back soon," Touya told Oshawott, though it was more an educated guess than an actual fact. Oshawott padded after him as Touya headed towards the kitchen. He usually fed Oshawott right around now, and since he had nothing better to do and Oshawott was probably getting hungry, now was as good a time as any.

He reached for the bag of Pokemon food in one of the top cupboards - Oshawott was extremely creative when it came to figuring out ways to filch food, so the topmost storage spot was a countermeasure. As he emptied the bag's contents into Oshawott's bowl, he noticed that he'd used up the last of the Pokemon food.

Suddenly, he had an idea. An idea that was actually decent.

He set the bowl on the floor before throwing out the now useless food bag. As Oshawott munched happily on his food, Touya heard the low beep of the door scanner. As annoying as it was, the scanner at least gave him notice to prepare for people entering the apartment.

Cheren, Bianca, and Touko all clambered into the room. Bianca and Touko were excitedly chattering about something that Touya couldn't quite make out, and Cheren was wearing his bored 'I only put up with this because I'm an amazing person' expression. Noticing her brother, Touko gently tugged Bianca over to the kitchen.

"What are you making?" Touko asked, trying to see what Touya was doing.

"Nothing. I was feeding Oshawott."

"But it's almost dinnertime!" Touko complained. Touya gave her an unimpressed look.

"It's your turn."

"Can we swap? Please, Touya?"

For once, Touya was glad that his sister was so predictable.

He nodded, and Touko grinned at her victory. Since her cooking skills left a lot to be desired, she always disliked making dinner - attempting to weasel out of it and exchange cooking duty for another chore was incredibly common.

"So, what do I have to do in return?"

"You should have asked that beforehand," Cheren pointed out, having since wandered over to see what all the commotion was about.

"It's not like it's going to be anything too bad," Touko objected. "So? What is it?"

"Oshawott ate the last of the Pokemon food."

Touko looked at Touya for a second before what Touya was implying registered.

"... I have to go out and buy some tonight, don't I."

Touya nodded. He did feel bad about sending his sister out at night to buy food, but it was unfortunately quite necessary.

"I can come with you," Bianca offered, sounding sorry for Touko. Alarmed, Touya immediately began trying to come up with excuses for why Bianca should stay.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine," Touko said, and Touya almost breathed a sigh of relief. "You better have dinner ready by the time I get back, Touya!"

"I will," he assured her. Touko quickly grabbed her bag and all but ran out the door, leaving Touya alone with Cheren and Bianca.

The seriousness of what he was about to do hadn't really hit him until that exact moment. His mind was suddenly awash with a combination of panic and anxiety, and he willed himself to calm down. There was no escaping the fact that he had to do this - no matter how much he might have wanted to.

"How was your visit with N?" Bianca asked before Touya could get a word in. Touya wished that he hadn't mentioned who he was visiting. Then again, N was essentially the only person in Castelia he'd actually go see, so it was probably a moot point anyway.

Touya was a little horrified that he was blushing - faintly, thankfully - in response to Bianca's question. Cheren looked at him a little curiously, like he wanted desperately to make some sort of comment, but Bianca seemed not to have noticed.

"... Good?" Touya offered, his voice coming out slightly more nervous than he would have liked. He felt as if he should probably explain just a bit more. "We talked about one of the books he owns."

"And that's all you did?" Cheren asked in a tone that was both skeptical and teasing at the same time. Touya attempted to prevent his face from turning redder with his thoughts alone but failed miserably.

Since nothing else actually had happened - well, nothing that was related to what Cheren was talking about, anyway - Touya was both confused and annoyed at his reaction to the question.

"That's all," Touya answered, with the flattest and most uninterested tone he could muster, just to prove to Cheren that he was being ridiculous.

Not that he had to deal with this any longer, because now was a good time to bring up the topic that he'd been waiting to discuss. Touya took a deep breath.

"I know that you're both involved in anti-government activities."

There was a beat of silence, short yet so loaded that it seemed to stretch on infinitely until Touya's friends processed his words. Bianca looked completely shocked, eyes widened and mouth agape. And though his face usually betrayed very little, Cheren looked surprised as well, which meant that his brain was currently working itself into overdrive trying to figure out how Touya knew.

"T-that's not - we're not-" Bianca stammered, and Touya felt a little guilty upon noticing that she was close to tears. But it wasn't as if he could have broached the topic in a manner that was any easier.

Cheren stepped in. "There's no point in denying it, Bianca. Touya wouldn't have told us if he wasn't sure. How did you find out?" If anything, Cheren sounded more intrigued than panicked. Which was what Touya probably should have expected, but he knew that if he were in Cheren's position, he'd be as flustered as Bianca.

Touya realized that it had never occurred to him that Cheren might ask how he discovered what they were up to. He strongly disliked the idea of telling them that he'd found out from N - it just didn't feel right without getting N's permission on the matter. Touya tried to utilize the couple of seconds he had before he had to provide an answer in order to invent a reason that sounded realistic.

"You were you lying last night when you were explaining how you learned the information you had on Crane."

The best part of this explanation was that it was actually true. It definitely wasn't the entire truth, but it was a portion of it, which made it perfectly believable. The only thing it didn't really cover was how Touya came to suspect Bianca's involvement, but Touya was hoping that Cheren wouldn't pick up on it.

So, obviously, that was the first thing he noticed.

"That isn't all of it." Cheren looked at Touya critically, as if he could uncover Touya's secrets just by staring at him. "You haven't explained how you came to suspect Bianca."

Touya paled and began fidgeting nervously with his right sleeve. "Um..." he started, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay. You don't have to explain if you don't want to," Bianca said, and Touya smiled gratefully. Cheren gave her an annoyed look - he really was incredibly nosy - but made no comments on the matter.

"I suppose you'd like to know why this happened," Cheren said after a moment of awkward silence. Though Touya wouldn't have asked on his own, he was glad that Cheren had offered - he was pretty curious about Cheren and Bianca's motivations.

"My reasons are simple. I don't like the way Unova is now, and so I'd like to change it."

That was evidently it, as Cheren didn't elaborate further.

"Is that why you joined the military?" Touya asked.

Cheren nodded. "That's right. I wanted to gather information abroad."

Cheren's reasoning was fairly straightforward - based on what he knew of Cheren's personality and beliefs, Touya had already guessed most of it, anyway. What he was more interested in was what could possibly have led Bianca to follow the same path. Touya glanced hesitantly at Bianca. He didn't want to pry, but, at the same time, he was curious about her motivation.

Either because she'd caught his look or because she felt as if she had to explain - or perhaps a combination thereof - Bianca began speaking. "I agree with Cheren. I'm... I'm not strong enough to go and fight, but I wanted to do what I could here. When I was called to the factory, I decided that I wanted to use the job to learn things that could be useful."

Bianca sounded so sincere that Touya didn't really know what to say. Cheren and Bianca's reasoning was sound, and Touya was surprised to find himself considering what he could do to help.

A few weeks ago, he would have stayed far, far away from any illegal activities. Spying on the Unova government - which was exactly what his friends were doing - was treason, and treason meant death.

But at the same time, he had to wonder. Was it possible to change their region? Cheren and Bianca seemed to think so. N did as well - he'd told Touya as much.

N had also said that the offer he'd made to Touya was always open.

Seeing that he was beginning to grow distracted, Touya shifted his thoughts to more immediate concerns.

"Are you going to tell Touko?"

"Of course not." Cheren looked at Touya like he was insane. "We weren't going to tell _you_."

"But we should," Bianca objected. "Touya already knows. It wouldn't be fair."

"If we tell her, then there's a chance that she'll want to get involved. She'd be in danger."

This probably wasn't the best time for Touya to mention that he was debating joining N's anti-government group, then.

Though Touya was positive that Cheren was at least a little concerned for Touko's safety, Cheren was probably playing more to Bianca's fears than his own.

"... You're right," Bianca agreed, crestfallen. Cheren looked at Touya, and Touya guessed that he was waiting for some sort of sign that he'd understood.

"I won't tell her." Touya didn't like hiding things from his sister, but if Cheren and Bianca wanted their activities to remain a secret, then Touya would do his best to honour their decision - even though he knew that Touko was going to end up ripping the truth out of him sooner or later.

* * *

**A/N:** This conversation is one of the only things I had planned from the beginning, because it really needed to happen - mainly because Cheren and Bianca needed to explain themselves.

The next chapter will be Cheren's side story; after that, the normal chapter 13. Since I don't want the side stories to intrude too much on the main story, they'll be pretty spread out.


	13. Side Story: Cheren

Do you remember that warning for violence way back at the top of chapter 1? Well, it now finally applies to the story!

* * *

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Side Story: Footprints in the Snow -**

There were many things in life that Cheren disliked.

One of these things was the cold, especially when it was paired with snow.

He and his company of fellow Unova soldiers had reached the Sinnoh region a little more than a week ago. They'd only arrived at Snowpoint City yesterday, and Cheren was already cursing his decision to apply to the ground division of the army and not the air force or navy. The navy would have most likely gotten him sent to Hoenn, and the air force would have probably taken him to Kanto-Johto.

And this time of year, neither of those regions had snow.

Due to Sinnoh's unpredictable and harsh climate, war was generally waged on foot. Where the Unova army had the upper hand in numbers, the Sinnoh army had in their ability to fight in the most horrendous of conditions.

Based on what Cheren could discern from inside his tent - a tent whose material was much too thin to fully prevent the outside chill from worming its way in - it was sometime early in the morning. He hadn't been able to sleep properly due to the cold, and he didn't feel like attempting to fall back asleep. Besides, for all he knew, the wake-up alarm would be sounding at any moment.

The tent's two other inhabitants continued to sleep. There was the man he'd been paired up with - Cheren's commanding officer had said something ridiculous about using the buddy system while fighting so that no one went off and got themselves killed in a snowstorm or something. Cheren thought that it was more that the army needed two people to a tent anyway and figured that they might as well pair the soldiers off in battle.

Then there was Snivy. Cheren had tried to get her into her Pokeball, but she'd refused. He'd been worried that she'd be too cold to sleep, but because she was often more stubborn than he was, he'd eventually given up and let her crawl into his sleeping bag.

He tried to slide out of it without waking her up, but the maneuver was unsuccessful, and she looked up at him, quickly blinking her eyes and growing more alert by the second. He was just about to attempt to coax her back into her Pokeball when the wake-up call went off.

The other soldier jumped, eyes wide and frightened at the sudden noise. He reached for the Pokeball by his head out of reflex, and Cheren rolled his eyes.

"It's the wake-up alarm," Cheren told him. He might not have tacked on an 'idiot' at the end - between his parents and Bianca, he _had_ managed to learn basic manners - but it was heavily implied.

The soldier grinned a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Cheren wasn't quite sure how effective the man would be in combat if he was startled by a simple alarm.

Not that Cheren had ever been in an actual battle, but he'd done perfectly in training, and he had no doubt that he was far calmer than most people. He didn't scare easily, and he was more than willing to use this trait to his advantage.

Cheren quickly pulled his arctic fatigues over the clothes he'd been sleeping in. Realizing that now wasn't the time to argue, Snivy went into her Pokeball without a word of protest, and Cheren hooked the ball into his belt. He grabbed the gun he'd been issued, checked to see if it was still in working order, and holstered it at his side.

Ground warfare was usually conducted using Pokemon alone, but there was the occasional situation that required the use of guns. But with his and Snivy's skill, Cheren didn't think that he'd have to resort to it.

He exited the tent alone, buddy system be damned. His 'partner' wasn't far behind, and it wasn't as if this situation was exactly combat related. A small group had already begun to gather, and Cheren joined the growing crowd. The soldiers chatted amongst themselves until the last of the people had trickled out.

His commanding officer, a woman by the name of Valka Kargin, stood in front of the crowd. She stood at the front of the group, and Cheren noticed that the soldiers nearest to Kargin had put a respectful distance between themselves and her.

Cheren had been surprised when he'd met Kargin. He'd heard stories of what she and her partner Lilligant were capable of in battle. Though they were definitely true - he'd seen her do demonstrations when he was still in training - she was actually a rather nice person. Even Snivy had liked her, and making a good first impression on Snivy was insanely difficult.

Kargin cleared her throat, and the crowd's noise level instantly hit zero.

"I'm assuming that all of you are ready for battle." A chorus of affirmatives echoed from the crowd in response.

"Good. I already outlined most of what you need to know last night, so I'll keep this short. This particular branch of the Sinnoh army is small, but they're extremely skilled in the use of Ice-types, and they know their way around snowy terrain. We're going to drive them out of Lake Acuity. Does anyone need a refresher on the battle plans?"

No one spoke, as expected.

"Then it's time to leave. We haven't far to go, so assume marching order. We'll need the element of surprise if we're going to scale the cliff entrance to the lake without being detected."

Kargin grinned at her soldiers. "Move quickly, but most of all, don't do anything stupid. Move out!"

The march to Lake Acuity was one the most strenuous things Cheren had ever done in his entire life. The training he'd gone through for new recruits had whipped him into shape, but nothing could have prepared him for an hour-long trek through snow that was piled up to his knees. Mercifully, it had stopped snowing half an hour ago, but Cheren's legs still burned from the effort it took to walk.

At Kargin's signal, everyone in the group ground to a halt. The line of frozen trees near the lake's entrance just barely hid the hundred or so soldiers. Kargin made a quick motion with her hand, and several soldiers stepped forward. They had been preselected for the task of sneaking up the cliffside and taking out the Sinnoh sentries.

Cheren was located in what was roughly the front third of the formation. From his spot a couple hundred metres away from the cliffs, he couldn't really see what was going on. When the soldiers returned about fifteen minutes later and they received the orders to move forward, he assumed they were successful.

Though Cheren had enlisted out of a desire to gather information on the various doings of the Unova government, a part of him was excited to experience warfare.

Ropes had already been attached to the top of the cliff, and the soldiers climbed quickly and silently, scaling the cliffside fifteen at a time. The Sinnoh contingent failed to notice their presence until about half of the Unova soldiers had climbed up.

Now that they'd been spotted, the fighting began. Kargin yelled out her orders over the war cries of Sinnoh soldiers. Cheren, along with the others who'd managed to reach the entrance, rushed towards the lake, careful to avoid falling into its frigid water and releasing their Pokemon as they ran.

One thing that Cheren hadn't anticipated was the chaotic nature of warfare. In training, everything had been clear cut - here's the opponent; now, _attack! _Rinse and repeat.

Real life was far more complicated. Soldiers of both sides swarmed around him, all wearing the same camouflage patchwork of white and grey. It was only by the shoulder patches that Cheren was able to identify his enemies - the Sinnoh symbol, a ring-like shape in green and gold, was supposed to represent a Pokemon native to the region that was said to be omnipotent.

Cheren wondered where their all-powerful god of a Pokemon was now.

In the confusion of storming the enemy lines, Cheren realized that he'd lost track of his assigned partner. Not that it particularly mattered to him, but Kargin would be pretty upset if she found out. She might be kind most of the time, but she could be downright frightening when she wanted to be.

Cheren attempted to weave through the fray and find his partner. Just as he angled his head to get a better look, a razor-sharp icicle shot past where his head had been seconds before.

He and Snivy whirled around to face their attacker. Across from him was a girl not much older than he was, with short, dirty blond hair and bright green eyes. Her Sneasel bounced beside her, looking as if it was preparing another attack. By accident, Cheren did something that he'd been told never to do.

He made eye contact with his opponent.

Though her expression had been cold, her eyes were scared. The second he noticed the opposing soldier's fear, he froze. Snivy looked at him, and he could tell that she was beginning to panic. His opponent's Sneasel shot out a beam of pure ice, and Cheren instantly knew that he wasn't going to be able to dodge in time.

At the last moment, the beam was deflected, shooting straight up towards the white sky. Snivy ended the Protect she'd used, shifting hesitantly from foot to foot. She was waiting for a command from Cheren.

Spurred into action by the attack, Cheren began to gather himself together and decide what to do. Just as he was about to give Snivy a command, he noticed that the soldier he'd been paired with was approaching. The soldier and his Growlithe ran towards the Sinnoh girl, and before Cheren could even blink the Growlithe had let loose a torrent of flames.

The girl screamed as the fire licked her flesh, barreling at top speed towards the nearby lake. She dived in, flailing haphazardly amongst the ripples her entrance had produced. Her skin sizzled in the ice-cold water, sending up furls of steam.

Her chaotic movements soon died down, and she floated calmly on the lake's surface. Her Sneasel looked horrorstruck. Terrified and without direction, it jumped into the water and clung pitifully to its dead trainer.

"You alright?" the soldier asked, looking at Cheren with mild concern. Cheren nodded stiffly as Snivy made tiny distressed noises. He wandered, a little bit aimlessly, towards the edge of the lake clearing.

He breathed deeply, in and out. He didn't understand why he was so affected by what had happened. He'd had training, hadn't he? Training for battle, training for strategy, training for cooperation.

Training for death.

He breathed out again.

"Snai!" Snivy screamed, hastily tugging on Cheren's shirt with her vines. Immediately on alert, he whirled around. A Sinnoh soldier had noticed him loitering near the edge of the woods and was now rapidly approaching. A Glaceon followed the soldier closely, and its eyes were trained on Snivy.

"Vine Whip!" Cheren yelled. This time, there would be no hesitation.

Snivy complied almost instantaneously, snapping her long, green vines against the opposing Glaceon's back. It yelped in pain but refused to stop.

"Shadow Ball!" the soldier commanded, sliding to a halt when he reached the standard five foot distance from Cheren. The Glaceon fired off a pulsating purple ball, which Snivy barely dodged.

"Gastro Acid!" Glaceon jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a face full of potent acid. A few stray drops spattered onto its ears, visibly corroding the affected fur and flesh. The Glaceon's trainer seemed to consider his next move for a moment. He gave his Pokemon a quick signal that Cheren couldn't catch before he told it to use Ice Beam.

It took less than half a second for Cheren to realize that Snivy wasn't the target - he was. He dropped to the snowy ground on reflex, and the attack soared harmlessly over his head.

But by hitting the ground so violently, he had dislodged a sheet of ice that had attached itself to the cliffside. He and the newly freed piece of ice plummeted downwards to the floor of the surrounding forest, and Cheren was deposited onto the ground in a flurry of snow and pine needles.

Snivy quickly swung down and landed beside him, crooning in concern.

"I'm alright," he assured her, though he wasn't sure he believed it. He brushed the snow off of himself and got to his feet. He craned his head to look straight above him. The soldier he'd been fighting against was staring down at him, conflict evident on his face.

In the end, duty to his region won out, and the soldier began making his way down, moving carefully but quickly.

Cheren weighed his options - fight or flight.

He'd been shown all of the maps that Unova had managed to obtain that related to the woods near Lake Acuity. He mentally flipped through the images, trying to match any one them to his current location. Since he was so near the lake, it wasn't incredibly difficult, and he soon had a rough idea of where he was.

He wasn't really near anything useful, but fighting was looking less and less of a viable option. Cheren knew that something was wrong - tiny specks of colour danced across the edges of his vision, and he felt dizzy and off-balance.

An odd sensation on the left side of his head stole his attention. He tentatively reached a hand up to his temple and brought it away.

His fingers were slick with warm blood. Though he knew that head wounds often looked worse than they actually were, dizziness and a head wound combined with temperatures below freezing was one of the less promising combinations for success in battle.

If another attack were aimed his way, he didn't think that he'd be able to dodge it - and Snivy could only use Protect so many times before it failed. Making his decision, Cheren scooped Snivy up in his arms and took off running into the forest.

Assuming the maps that Unova had made were accurate, then there should be a large pond roughly a mile or so in the direction Cheren was currently heading. If he could make it, then he wouldn't need to resort to battle to defeat his opponent.

"Hey!" the opposing soldier yelled, noticing Cheren's speedy departure and quickening his own descent to the forest floor. It was almost as if he thought that he could stop Cheren with words alone.

Cheren had more than a twenty metre head start, though he had the feeling that he'd have to put every bit of it to use. Even as he ran further into the woods, he was always within his pursuer's field of vision. And with a pace slowed by injury, he had to reach his goal soon.

After what seemed like hours, Cheren spotted what he was looking for. Partially covered by snow, the pond's frozen surface gleamed under the faint light of the cloud-covered sun. Cheren ran as gingerly as he could while maintaining his speed over the ice until he reached the edge of the pond.

He fought the urge to collapse in an exhausted heap. Setting Snivy on the pond's surface, he panted heavily, sucking in gulps of frigid air.

It didn't take long for the Sinnoh soldier to come to the pond's clearing. He stepped onto the ice, approaching Cheren slowly, with the air of predator who had cornered his prey.

"We take prisoners of war, you know," he said. Cheren didn't have enough energy for a reply. Annoyed by Cheren's silence, the soldier added, "Unlike you Unova soldiers."

"No choice," Cheren rasped, waiting for the right moment to enact his plan.

"I find that hard to believe. But if you won't surrender, then I have to kill you."

Slowly, Cheren nodded. It was time.

"Now," he whispered to Snivy. The other soldier immediately ordered his Glaceon to fire off an Ice Beam, but it was a split second too late. Acting on a plan that Cheren had explained while running, Snivy let loose a torrent of acidic purple liquid aimed at the soldier's feet.

Or, more precisely, the ice_ under_ the soldier's feet. Cheren's opponent and his Pokemon crashed through the corroded ice and into the dangerously cold water. Thrown off balance by its fall, the Glaceon's Ice Beam missed Cheren by a significant margin.

The Glaceon seemed to come to its senses before its trainer. Knowing that it wasn't strong enough to pull its partner out of the water, it instead tried to climb out. Its dark blue paws scrabbled uselessly against the pond's slick, icy surface, and it floundered about in the water.

The soldier thrashed about before calming down just enough to try and hoist himself out of his predicament. But with fingers and joints numbed and made clumsy by cold, his attempts met with as much as success as his Pokemon's.

"Help me," he begged, staring at Cheren with frightened eyes. For some reason, Cheren noted that his eyes were a vivid blue. Almost as blue as the water that would be his grave.

Cheren sunk slowly to the ground. "Unova doesn't take prisoners."

"Please -"

"Snivy, use Wrap." Snivy unfurled her long vines and closed them around the opposing soldier's neck, and he choked and clawed at the clinging vines. His neck was broken with a deliberate flick, and Snivy loosened her vines and allowed him to bob in the water.

The Glaceon was in hysterics. Having abandoned reason in favour of fear-induced instinct, it swam under the ice and hid where Snivy couldn't get to it.

Cheren closed his eyes and finally let himself rest. Sleeping in the cold while injured was an incredibly dumb idea, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

When he awoke, Snivy was curled up at his side. Covered with a thick layer of snow and feeling like he was at risk of collapsing at any moment, he very cautiously stood up. His head was a painful mess of snowflakes and crusted blood.

Though he'd slept through to the next morning, he hadn't slept well. Nightmares had plagued him constantly, a mishmash of the horrors of yesterday.

He glanced over at the frozen pond. The Glaceon's corpse had floated to the surface sometime during the night, and the man's body still lingered at the top.

Feeling sick from the sight, he stumbled away from Snivy, who was in the process of waking up. Pointedly looking away from the bodies, an image arose in his mind, unbidden and unwanted - that of the girl his age, blond hair and pale skin aflame, pinwheeling into Lake Acuity.

This time, he was physically ill, emptying the meagre contents of his stomach onto the snow. Shaking from the cold and from something else he couldn't identify, he forced himself to move. Snivy followed him to the edge of the pond's clearing.

Cheren started laughing, though he was pretty sure that crying would have been a more appropriate response. The blizzard that had passed through while he was sleeping had not only erased his footprints, but had also reshaped the forest's landscape. Paths that had looked familiar before were now foreign.

Cheren estimated the direction he'd come in, using guesswork as a substitute for facts - something he wouldn't have even considered under normal conditions. He hobbled through the snow at a far slower pace than he would have liked.

After hours of wandering through the homogenous terrain of snow and trees, he collapsed onto the ground, sinking into the powdery white floor.

"Vi, vi!" Snivy yelled, nudging Cheren with her nose. Cheren tried to stand up, but his head was spinning too much for him to keep his balance, and he fell back towards the ground.

"You need to go," he urged her. Snivy shook her head and attempted to use her vines to tug him through the snow. Between the unforgiving friction of the snow and the natural weight of a human body, her efforts barely caused him to budge.

"I'm sorry." He had the feeling that he might not have been apologizing just for leaving her.

The dots in the corners of his eyes suddenly multiplied rapidly, converging into a mass of roiling colours that blanketed his vision. As his eyes slid shut, the last thing he saw was a bright burst of light.

* * *

He awoke in the medic's tent back at camp. He still felt horrendous, but the sense that he could quite possibly die was gone. He maneuvered himself into a sitting position with some discomfort - his muscles were sore, and the sudden movement jarred his head unpleasantly.

Spotting his glasses on a nearby box that was acting as a makeshift bedside table, he leaned over, careful not to tumble out of the hospital cot. He slid the glasses into place, and his surroundings sharpened into view.

Noticing that Cheren was moving around, one of the doctors walked over.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"... Alright. Though my head's pounding."

"You sustained a minor concussion. It's going to hurt for a little while, but you'll be fine. By your bruises, you've clearly gone through some sort of impact, but there aren't any broken bones. What happened?"

Cheren shrugged, immediately regretting the action as his shoulder muscles protested the movement. "I fell off of a cliff."

"That would do it," the doctor laughed. "You know, you're lucky you made it back."

"I was wondering about that. Why am I here?"

"Your Pokemon pulled you back, all by herself."

Cheren was confused. Though he'd been partially out of it at the time, he clearly remembered Snivy trying to tug him through the snow and failing - she hadn't been strong enough.

"She's resting in the adjoining tent. You shouldn't be walking right now, but I can bring her here if you'd like."

"Yes," Cheren nodded. "I'd like to see her."

The doctor disappeared into the side tent, reemerging a minute later holding Cheren's partner in his arms. He set her down on Cheren's lap and left.

Cheren blinked. Instead of a Snivy, a Servine was looking back at him. But though the form was different, Cheren somehow knew that this was his same Pokemon.

"You evolved," he stated, unable to prevent a bit of awe from creeping into his voice. Servine nodded her head before tackling him in a hug.

Cheren suddenly remembered the bright flash of light he'd seen before passing out.

"You evolved to save me."

"Ser!" Servine chirped happily, snuggling closer to Cheren.

"Thank you," he said, a little bit of disbelief still evident in his voice.

For once, he let himself smile.

* * *

**A/N:** When I first started writing Skies, I was seriously debating whether or not I should write side stories for some of the other characters. In the end, I decided that they were pretty crucial to character development and that any cons were outweighed by the pros. Bianca's is probably next, but there'll be at least three or four chapters before it appears.

I ended up giving Cheren's commanding officer a name because it quickly became a huge pain to refer to her as 'Cheren's commanding officer'. I followed the Czech theme of Bianca's Japanese name and Cheren's name - _valka_ is Czech for "war".


	14. Postponing the Inevitable

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 13: Postponing the Inevitable -**

The minute Touko had stepped through the door last night, Touya knew that she was suspicious. The fact that he, Cheren, and Bianca hadn't even bothered to sit down and had instead been standing in a rough circle hadn't helped - there was something about standing close together in a circle that was almost conspiratorial.

Bianca had left the apartment as soon as dinner had ended, and Cheren had retreated to Touya's room under the pretense of being tired. Since Cheren was a major night owl, this flimsy excuse had only furthered Touko's suspicions, which Touya had had to deflect until Touko had decided to give up and go to bed. With Cheren staying at the apartment, he didn't have a room to escape to, and the couch was quite underprepared to protect him from his sister.

Which was why he was currently speeding through getting himself prepared to go to work.

Having just fed Oshawott his breakfast, Touya was busy putting Oshawott's food away when he heard a noise coming from one of the bedrooms - a noise that sounded like the sound of someone placing their feet onto the floor. Touya began to panic, just a tiny bit, because he knew that it had to be Touko.

Cheren was even worse than Touya at waking up in the morning. Part of it was because he stayed up to absurdly late hours - he claimed that he was more productive at nighttime - and another part was because he just wasn't a morning person to begin with.

Touya wasn't sure whether he'd prefer it to be Cheren or Touko who'd just woken up. Since Cheren wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine when he was fully awake, Touya wasn't really thrilled at the prospect of dealing with him when he was half-asleep.

But Touko was sure to ask Touya questions, and that situation was probably more dangerous that simply dealing with a grouchy Cheren. Touya heard footsteps in the hallway, and he knew that he had a little under four seconds before his morning became far less peaceful.

"Good morning," greeted Touko, appearing at the edge of the kitchen. There was a faint tone of annoyance present in her voice.

She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. Tepig soon followed and immediately began his attempts to mooch off of Oshawott's food.

"... Good morning," Touya hesitantly responded. He didn't want to antagonize her, but not greeting her in return would probably just annoy her further.

Touko stared at him, and Touya stared back.

This staring contest continued until Touko sighed and motioned for Touya to take the seat across from her at the table. Touya did so, and she continued looking at him like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure where to begin.

Touya was more than a little afraid to ask, so he chose to wait until she initiated the conversation.

"Something's up, and it isn't just with you. There's also something wrong with Cheren and Bianca."

Touya fidgeted nervously with the hem of his sleeve. If he started talking, he didn't think that he'd be able to lie to Touko's face. It was only last night that he'd promised Cheren that he wouldn't tell Touko what they were up to, and while he did intend to try and keep that promise, Touko was awfully persistent, and lying didn't sit right with him to begin with.

Touko crossed her arms impatiently and frowned. "Tell me what's going on."

"Um, I -" Touya stammered. With such direct questioning, lying was the only way to avoid answering. "T-there's nothing. Nothing's wrong."

It was quite possibly the weakest answer he could have given.

"Come on, Touya. You're awful at lying, and it's disappointing that you'd even try. Can you just tell me truth? Please?" Touko gave Touya her best and most effective pleading expression.

It took approximately three seconds for Touya to crack.

"Cheren and Bianca are involved in anti-government activities and I found out," Touya admitted in a rush of words. Some juvenile and vainly optimistic part of him hoped that if he spoke quickly enough, then the words just wouldn't register in Touko's mind.

Not that that actually happened, of course.

"... What?"

Touya couldn't really blame her for not anticipating that particular response.

"Okay, hold on. When and why did this happen? And why do you know about it and I don't?"

"Can we talk about this later?" Touya asked in a poor attempt to evade her questioning. He checked his watch to see if he had evidence to strengthen his case - blessedly enough, it was actually a little past time to leave. Touya dipped his wrist towards Touko to make his point.

"Fine. But you're not getting out of this."

Touya nodded, because there was no point in attempting to hide the fact that he believed that he was utterly doomed.

* * *

Since Touko had still needed to get herself ready, Touya had taken the opportunity to rush out the door. He had justified his speedy departure with the fact that he wouldn't have been on time otherwise - and since Touko was late, she had chosen not to protest.

Touko had asked Bianca to come along - though Bianca had seemed confused at first, the serious and slightly annoyed look on Touko's face had caused her to agree without question.

Touko had been acting reserved all day, and any attempts Bianca made to initiate a conversation were being shot down. Where there was usually amiable chatter, there was instead silence. Awkward silence.

The clicking of footsteps merged with the natural sounds of the city to create background noise that somewhat alleviated the void caused by the lack of conversation, but the effect was so noticeable that Touya was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

Right now, he had three options. He could either continue walking home, go off somewhere random in the city, or go see N.

He wasn't really surprised that he was able to decide so quickly.

"I'm going to visit N," Touya said, ducking down the nearest alleyway before anyone could object.

* * *

While Touya had been told to head to the twenty-seventh floor like last time, this time he'd also been told to wait once he got there, which implied that N was off doing something else in the building. The elevator deposited Touya at the proper floor, and he entered the main room.

Books were still scattered about, but Touya thought that they maybe looked a little bit neater. There also seemed to be fewer piles, but since N didn't seem the type to get rid of books, Touya wondered if he'd just moved them around.

Since picking up one of the books to peruse was an almost guaranteed embarrassment, he considered poking around one of the back rooms before immediately discarding the idea as an invasion of privacy - one of the last things he wanted to do was to make it seem like he was taking advantage of the freedom he'd been given to wander around.

Touya noticed that a small couch had been dragged out - presumably from one of the adjoining rooms - and placed near the elevator against the right wall. The couch looked a little out of place amongst the stacks of books, but as he sat down Touya was nevertheless grateful that he wouldn't have to stand.

As time ticked by, Touya began to worry if N was actually really busy - it could be that Touya was pulling him away from some sort of important task. Touya felt a little guilty at the possibility.

He supposed that that was another reason in favour of joining Team Plasma. If he were an actual member, then he'd have a legitimate excuse for hanging around the headquarters so often, and he'd actually be doing something useful instead of loitering within the building.

Mind circling back to N's potential busyness, Touya wondered how often N went outside. He'd only ever seen him outside on two occasions - once when N had been searching for Touya, and once when N had been standing right outside the Plasma headquarters - and whenever Touya stopped by, N was always in the building. Admittedly, he hadn't known N for long, but it still seemed like he didn't get out very much. Probably because he actually had things to do, unlike Touya, who, despite work, seemed to have a fair amount of free time.

Touya had the thought that it would be nice to take N somewhere before immediately shoving the idea away. Not just because it wasn't guaranteed that N would have the time for it, but also because that sounded dangerously close to a date. He wasn't even sure why, because it was perfectly acceptable for one person to take another person to a place without it being remotely romantic.

Either way, Touya was not going to take N on a date. Or vice versa. Because he wasn't interested in N that way, despite what certain people would have liked to imply. Sure, N was interesting and smart, and he also happened to be a really kind and considerate person, and -

Touya put a halt to that train of thought. He could feel himself blushing, so he took a few deep breaths and tried to think of things that weren't related to N, a plan which worked surprisingly well until N walked out of the elevator. Zorua trotted behind him; after sparing Touya a moment's glance, he ran off to one of the back rooms.

"I'm sorry you had to wait," N said, joining Touya on the couch.

Touya shook his head. "I'm sure you're busy." He couldn't help but sound slightly apologetic.

Briefly, Touya wondered why on earth the couch was so small - though he'd already come to the conclusion that, strangely enough, physical contact with N was not awful, that fact in and of itself was a little terrifying. They weren't touching, but the amount of space between them was so pitifully tiny that, for Touya, it was close enough.

"I..." Touya trailed off, trying to figure out how to start off what he wanted to say. "I was thinking about joining Team Plasma."

N just looked at him for a moment, and if Touya didn't know N he'd think that he'd forgotten about the offer he'd made to Touya. So Touya was a little confused - N had said that his offer would remain open, right? And Touya didn't think that N was the type to make empty promises.

"If you don't want me to join..." Touya began awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to N's reaction.

"That isn't it," N replied, and Touya thought that he seemed a little unsure - as if he wasn't entirely sure what actually was the problem. Less than a second later, a realization seemed to dawn on N. "If you join Team Plasma, then there is a chance that you may be hurt."

The notion that N cared enough about him enough to worry about admitting him to his group was both pleasantly surprising and somewhat heady.

But Touya didn't want to have to be the one that was always protected. N, Cheren, and Bianca - almost everyone he knew except for Touko - were all putting themselves in harm's way for a higher purpose. There wasn't any reason that he couldn't do the same.

Touya also had the thought that if he joined Team Plasma, then he just might be able to make N's job a little safer.

"Is there a reason why you've changed your mind?" N asked, dropping some of the seriousness he'd adopted earlier.

"I want to help you," Touya replied simply but firmly. It wasn't until a split second later that he realized what he'd said - not that he wanted to help Unova or the anti-government movement in general, but _N_ _himself_.

This was part of the reason he usually avoided one-on-one conversations. The more freedom he had to talk, the more he ended up phrasing his thoughts incorrectly.

Though in this case, it was less that it was incorrect and more that it was too revealing.

"You want to help Team Plasma," N restated slowly, and Touya got the feeling that the phrasing was deliberate - N was unsure how to interpret what Touya had said and was, in a sense, testing to see if he'd gotten it right.

Touya briefly but carefully considered how to respond. "That's true, but I also... I don't want you to get hurt, either."

Why did that sound so much more incriminating when he said it?

N had an expression that Touya had come to associate with him receiving some sort of praise or compliment - a combination of surprised and flattered, with a dash of confusion thrown in.

"Would you like to come by sometime for combat training?" Touya blinked at the slight change of subject, but at least it was somewhat related to what they were talking about. "It would not be binding; if you decided not to join, then there wouldn't be an issue. I would conduct the battle myself."

The implication being that N would personally make sure that the battle was as safe as possible. Though Touya definitely appreciated the gesture, he was a little apprehensive about battling. Not only was he unsure of how good he'd actually be at it, but he was worried about Oshawott accidentally getting hurt. But Oshawott had seemed fairly enthusiastic about it while he was watching the practice battle a few days ago.

Slowly, Touya nodded. "If Oshawott's okay with it."

Chances were that Oshawott would be more than willing to take part in a practice battle; if that turned out to be the case, then Touya would be learning how to fight. And though he was hesitant to admit it, he was just the tiniest bit excited about the prospect.

* * *

**A/N: **You can probably guess what's coming next chapter just based on how Touko's acting. After that, things should be picking up plot-wise unless there are significant last minute changes (which, uh, hopefully won't happen).

Fun fact: I got the number for N's personal floor by multiplying Euler's number (~2.718) by ten and rounding.


	15. Keeping Quiet

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 14: Keeping Quiet -**

Touya stood at the door to his apartment, hand poised above the scanner but utterly unwilling to actually go through the process of opening the door, mainly because he knew that Touko was going to be at best annoyed and at worst extremely pissed off.

In retrospect, not going straight home with Touko and Bianca had probably been a bad idea, but it wasn't as if Touya could do anything about it at this point.

Unable to convince himself to procrastinate any longer, Touya scanned his I.D. and opened the door. It was immediately apparent that everyone had been waiting for him to arrive - Touko looked disapproving, Cheren accusatory, and Bianca slightly deflated.

Touya had no idea what to say, so he settled for walking over to the kitchen where everyone had gathered. Bianca and Touko were sitting at the table, and for some reason that probably only made sense to Cheren, Cheren was standing. Not really feeling up to sitting next to Touko, Touya took the seat next to Bianca.

"Now that Touya's here," Touko began, "I think it's time we all have a talk." Not only was 'having a talk' often a very frightening thing to do, but Touya was worried at how Cheren would react to Touko finding out about the secret he'd specifically told Touya _not_ to tell her. The fact that it had taken less than twelve hours for this to occur didn't really help the matter.

"About what?" Cheren asked, voice perfectly level and innocent. Cheren had to know exactly what was going on; either he was playing dumb, which was something he usually hated doing because he reveled in being smart, or he was asking in order to push Touko to get to the point.

"You know what," Touko snapped. Touya shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair, whereas Bianca looked like she wanted to sink through the floor. Cheren looked entirely unbothered by Touko's tiny outburst.

Seeing Touya and Bianca's reactions, Touko shut her eyes for a moment, exhaling deeply in an effort to curb her anger. "Sorry, but we need to talk about this. So how about someone explains to me why you two," Touko pointed at Bianca and Cheren, "are apparently anarchists."

Cheren huffed, as if very the notion of being associated with anarchy offended him. "We're trying to reform the Unova government, not destroy it."

There was a moment of silence.

"I think she wants a little more than that, Cheren," Bianca whispered helpfully, either forgetting that she was equally able to provide whatever information Cheren could or deciding not to.

Cheren looked at her as if that were obvious; in reality, though, the thought probably hadn't occurred to him. "We're gathering information on the government. There's a covert online group to whom I submit what Bianca and I have discovered."

"Oh, so you're just spying on Unova. That's fantastic. I feel a lot better now."

"We're making Unova better," Bianca said, a little pleadingly. "So, please don't be mad."

"... I'm not mad," Touko replied immediately, though her tone of voice was somewhat at odds with her words. "But I would've liked to know about this sooner."

"We wanted to tell you," Bianca assured her. Looking displeased, Cheren muttered something about 'we' not really being the most accurate pronoun in that statement.

"Then why tell Touya and not me?" Touya suspected that this issue was at the heart of why Touko was so upset - the fact that Cheren and Bianca had kept such an enormous secret was a major part of it, of course, but that Touko didn't find out at the same time as Touya was an even larger one.

"Touya found out on his own. Not that I know how," Cheren said. He looked pointedly at Touya, who suddenly had all eyes focused on him. Touya slumped a little self-consciously in his chair.

"It was just a good guess," Touya said, trying to defend himself. He'd already had to deal with this yesterday, and he definitely wasn't thrilled about having to try and sidestep the issue a second time.

There was dead silence, mainly because Cheren and Bianca already knew that he was trying to hide where he'd learned the information from and Touko could see right through him anyway.

"You're going to tell me later," Touko informed him. Though serious, her tone had lightened considerably.

Touya decided that he was going to do his best to keep N's secret. Though he did wonder why he was so hellbent on not telling anyone.

While it was certainly true that he never liked spilling others' secrets, telling three people he trusted a great deal that N was leader of an anti-government group was probably not going to harm anyone, especially since two of those people were also involved in the same sort of business. Not to mention the fact that N had never actually asked him to keep it a secret.

At the same time, though, the fewer the number of people who knew what N was up to, the safer he'd be. Touya had said yesterday that he didn't want N to get hurt, and he'd meant every word of it.

The only reason he hadn't tried harder to keep from telling Touko what Bianca and Cheren were up to was because, as their friend, she did have a right to know. He also knew that, had he not told her, Touko would have only kept pushing and nagging, growing more and more upset all the while, until Touya told her the answer she was looking for.

Since N barely knew Touko and Bianca and hadn't even met Cheren, Touya didn't feel that it would be appropriate to tell them. Maybe it would happen eventually - but for now, Touya was going to keep quiet.

* * *

The walk to work was completely uneventful, and for once, Touya was immensely glad. Touko was pretty much back to normal, and Touya found that he preferred her near-constant chatter to silence. Even if it was so early in the morning that Touya was barely doing any talking himself.

As they approached the factory's entrance, Touya fell into single file behind Touko. Touko flashed her I.D. card to the guard and walked through the metal detector. By the time Touya had gone through the same procedure, Touko had already been told their daily assignment.

"We're working in packaging today."

Though Touya had only worked there once before, it stood out in his mind for some unidentifiable reason.

"That's where Bianca works, remember?" Touko reminded him.

Touya wasn't sure how he felt about having a friend for a boss, no matter how temporary it might be. Though if it was between Cheren and Bianca, he'd take Bianca any day. Working under Cheren would probably be a fantastic test of patience, but it wasn't one he was willing to undergo.

Touya followed Touko to the packaging section. Work hadn't officially started yet, so the section's workers were simply milling about the area. Touya took a quick look around, but he didn't see Bianca anywhere in the crowd.

After a few minutes of awkwardly shuffling around in order to avoid running into people, a bell rang shrilly over the loudspeakers. Everyone immediately came to attention, falling silent as the factory head's voice came over the intercom.

He gave a quick nationalistic speech that Touya guessed was supposed to be motivational but mostly came off as fake and annoying. As the pledge of allegiance was recited, everyone turned to the Unova flag hanging on the back-most wall.

After the morning routine was over, the intercom cut off. Almost as if on cue, Bianca stepped out of a nearby door and assumed a spot at the front of the crowd.

Bianca had already had a few days to adjust to her new position, and it showed - she wasn't as jittery as Touya would have thought she'd be, and she looked like she knew what she was doing.

"It's time to get to work," Bianca said, addressing the crowd. "But it'll be over soon - so until you're free for the day, just do your best!"

Touya supposed that it was motivational in its own unique way. People dispersed around the area, meandering off to their assigned positions. Touya and Touko took a seat at one of the tables - their task was to put supplies into boxes, which was simple enough.

The hours dragged by, the monotony of the task at hand interrupted occasionally by Touko, who alternated between making observations regarding their coworkers and talking about various random ideas that flitted through her mind.

Bianca mostly wandered around and made sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to. Though she was very professional about how she interacted with Touya and Touko, Touya couldn't help but notice that Bianca chatted with Touko longer than what would normally constitute a simple progress check.

The low hum and clanging of machinery was broken by sudden shouts. Touya's eyes immediately flicked towards the source of the din, but he was careful not to show too much interest. He didn't want to get involved in case a fight had broken out.

He studiously avoided glancing towards the shouting, doing fairly well until Touko elbowed him somewhat harshly in the arm and motioned towards exactly where he didn't want to look.

The first thing he noticed was that two men, clearly upset, were standing and glaring at each other. One was yelling something about the other holding up the conveyor belt, whereas the accused was vehemently defending himself.

The second thing he noticed was that Bianca was quickly making her way over towards the fight, shoulders straight and mouth set in a determined line.

"You can't fight," Bianca said. Her voice was serious, with more force than Touya would have ever expected from her. "Even if he is slowing things down - which isn't for you to judge - both of you fighting is slowing things even more. You may not like your job, but these rations that you're packaging keep our soldiers from dying. So, can you both get along, just for now?"

Both men looked at her warily, but nodded slowly. Bianca broke out in a grin, and Touya couldn't believe how well she'd managed a potentially volatile situation. It wasn't until Bianca was walking away that he noticed that her hands were shaking.

The rest of his work day went off without any problems, and before he knew it work had ended. He filed outside with Touko who, as usual, guilted him into waiting for Bianca. As Touya was waiting, he considered visiting N for the promised battling lesson, but he ultimately decided against it. He'd been showing up at the Plasma headquarters more often than was probably proper or normal, and it wouldn't hurt to go straight home for once.

Bianca soon emerged from the factory, and both she and Touko went through the routine of Touko inviting Bianca over, Bianca saying that she didn't want to impose, and Touko eventually convincing her to come.

Touya wondered if Bianca would ever just come along with them without Touko having to convince her to do so.

* * *

One of the first things Touko did upon entering the apartment was make a beeline for the refrigerator. Finding next to nothing, she moved on to the cabinets and subsequently shut them in disappointment.

"I don't think we have enough things to make dinner with," she said, turning to Touya and Bianca, who were watching her frantic movements. "But didn't we just buy groceries?"

"We've had four people to feed," Touya pointed out. The last time he'd bought food, it had been in expectation of feeding only himself and Touko on a regular basis - but since Cheren was currently staying with them and Touko consistently invited Bianca over, it would seem that Touya had underestimated the number of people he'd need to feed.

"Guess you're right," Touko conceded. She seemed to mull over a few ideas before deciding on one. "How about we get take-out? I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow."

Since it was unusual for Touko to offer to do anything remotely related to chores - unless it was swapping one chore for another - Touya was a little curious as to why she'd immediately offered to do the food shopping.

"I can go," he said. He had made Touko run out and get the Pokemon food two nights ago, so it was probably his turn, anyway.

Touko shook her head. "I don't mind, and tomorrow's our day off, so it's not like I'll be wasting all of my free time."

If Touko was being this insistent, then Touya wasn't going to bother arguing with her, especially since he now had all of Saturday to spend at the Plasma headquarters. Not that he probably needed it, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

"I can run by the information center to find out about some of the restaurants, and then I'll pick whatever sounds the best."

"You can't just call?" Touya asked, confused as to why anyone would willingly choose to visit a government-run building.

"They get a ton of calls everday that they can just ignore. But if you show up in person, then they have to tell you something!"

Touya thought it best not to mention that kicking people out of the building was also a perfectly valid course of action for the information center to take.

"So, who wants to come with me?" Touko asked, because a visit to the information center followed by a trip to a restaurant evidently necessitated multiple people.

"I do!" Bianca declared cheerfully at almost exactly the same moment Touya shook his head. Touko and Bianca were out the door fairly quickly, and it wasn't until the door slammed shut that Touya realized that he didn't know where Cheren was.

Just as Touya was debating possible locations, Cheren walked into the space in front of the kitchen. His laptop - something Touya guessed that he'd picked up from his house when he'd visited Nuvema Town - was tucked under his arm, and his eyes had a sort of squinty look to them that Touya knew meant that he'd been staring at his computer screen for hours, possibly in complete darkness with the door shut like some sort of high-tech caveman.

Noticing Touya in the kitchen, Cheren wandered over. "Where are Touko and Bianca?"

"They went to pick up food."

"So it'll be a while before they return."

It didn't take long for Touya to realize what Cheren was getting at. This was the perfect opportunity for Cheren to grill Touya about why he'd gone and told Touko about what Cheren and Bianca were doing.

Cheren assumed a place at the kitchen table, motioning for Touya to do the same. Touya was beginning to associate that table with highly unpleasant conversations.

Slowly, Touya sat down.

* * *

**A/N:** Oddly enough, the incident in the factory that Bianca handles is my favourite part of the chapter.

Touko does actually have a reason for offering to go and get the groceries tomorrow - it's because she noticed that Touya didn't visit N today and thought that it'd be nice if he had a lot of time tomorrow to do so. And if she didn't go tomorrow then she'd just have to go next time, so, why not?


	16. Preparation

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 15: Preparation -**

"You said you wouldn't tell Touko."

Cheren sounded as monotone and calm as ever, but the narrowing of his eyes combined with other factors that Touya wasn't even conscious of communicated Cheren's displeasure loud and clear. Touya had expected Cheren to be angry, but it wasn't as if that expectation made actually dealing with him any easier.

"I'm sorry." Touya hadn't been thrilled about making the promise with Cheren, but he still felt bad about breaking it - at the very least, he probably could have picked a better way to tell Touko, or he could have informed Bianca and Cheren beforehand of what he'd planned to do.

Touya wasn't sure if his apology even mattered to Cheren, but it was a good way to show that he was sincere.

"That doesn't change the fact that you told her. Nor does it tell me why."

"She asked." It was a simple enough answer, and Touya hoped that Cheren would appreciate its succinctness. Seeing as Cheren looked less than impressed, Touya followed it up with, "If I didn't tell her now, she'd only get more upset."

Touya thought that not wanting to make people upset was something that Cheren could appreciate - if there was one thing Touya knew for sure about Cheren, it was that hehated interacting with people who were overly emotional.

Cheren seemed to consider this for a moment. "She shouldn't have suspected anything in the first place."

Touya shook his head. "We've all been acting strange." Which was true - Bianca being almost happy about her promotion as well as developing a fairly new interest in politics, Touya avoiding Touko in the morning, and even going as far back to Cheren enlisting in the military. It was one thing to be drafted, but it was something else entirely to go to the trouble of hacking one's way in, changing one's records, and subsequently volunteering.

At the time, Touya had just chalked it up to Cheren being Cheren, as there were many things Cheren did that confused people who were at least somewhat normal. Looking back on it, Touya wouldn't be surprised if Touko had had a different take on the matter. She had probably assumed from the start that Cheren had some sort of ulterior motive.

Touya didn't want to think that trusting people was a character flaw, but in this case, being a little more suspicious would have been fairly helpful.

"You still shouldn't have told her," Cheren said petulantly. For the first time during the conversation, Touya started to feel a little annoyed - he might have broken his promise, but no one had been hurt by it, and Touko was already suspicious anyway, so it was less telling her about something she had no idea was happening and more placing the last pieces of the puzzle.

"I thought it was the right thing to do." Cheren glared at him, but Touya matched his gaze. Looking Cheren in the eye when he was upset was a lot like looking directly at the sun - slightly terrifying and possibly with damaging effects afterwards - but Touya felt that looking away would weaken what he was saying.

After a moment, something seemed to click for Cheren. Shrugging his shoulders, he stood up. "Fair enough."

Touya blinked in disbelief. Cheren had just conceded a point to an opponent who hadn't even bothered to utilize logic. He decided not to press his luck and remained silent.

At the cusp of turning into the hallway and disappearing entirely from Touya's view, Cheren turned around, glancing back at Touya.

"Wanting to minimize the amount of regret that one has isn't unreasonable."

Cheren walked back to his room - or, rather, Touya's room - shutting the door and retreating back to his temporarily eked out personal space.

Touya had the sense that Cheren wasn't just justifying his acceptance of Touya's reasoning - there was something underneath that Touya was unfortunately missing. Touya had the unexpected thought that maybe, sometime in the future, he should ask Cheren for a more detailed recount of what had gone while he was in Snowpoint.

* * *

When Touya woke up, he was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he hadn't slept in too much. Though it was his day off, he wanted to get to Team Plasma's headquarters sooner rather than later.

Scooping Oshawott into his arms, he quickly took stock of who had left the apartment and who was still there. Touko appeared to have left already. Since the door to Touya's room was closed, Touya guessed that Cheren was still sleeping. He didn't bother testing his guess because waking Cheren up was not high on his list of priorities.

By the time Touya got himself ready to go, Oshawott was fully awake and dancing in anticipation of actually being able to go outside. Once Oshawott climbed up onto Touya's shoulder, Touya left the apartment.

He walked briskly towards the Plasma headquarters, knocking on the door - a gesture made largely unnecessary by the security cameras, but it was more for politeness' sake anyway - and waiting until someone decided that it was safe to open it up.

Touya had to wait longer than when he'd been there two days ago, though the reason why soon became apparent. Instead of being greeted by a normal member of Team Plasma, Touya was met by N.

Despite being extremely surprised, Touya managed to form a question. "Is today okay for a practice battle?" Oshawott's ears perked up at the word 'battle', and he chirped excitedly. Zorua, who had been dozing on N's shoulder, snapped his head up at the sudden noise and glared reproachfully at Oshawott.

"Yes, today is fine." N paused for a split second. "Can I ask why you didn't come yesterday?"

Touya blanked for a moment as he attempted to come up with an answer that didn't sound completely embarrassing.

"I didn't want to bother you." Seeing N's look of confusion, Touya added, "I've been visiting almost every day, and since you're probably, um, really busy, I just..." Touya trailed off, realizing that he was starting to ramble, "I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"Touya," N started, sounding like he was still wondering why Touya thought that visiting so often was a problem, "If I were truly busy, then I would tell you. You've never been an inconvenience."

Touya knew that hearing that he wasn't actually a nuisance shouldn't really make him this happy, but he smiled regardless. N smiled in return, and Touya's heart skipped a beat, because he knew in that moment that N should really smile more.

N led Touya to one of the elevator's, pressing the button for a floor that looked vaguely and confusingly familiar until he realized that it was probably the same floor as the battlefield Touya had been taken to before. The field wasn't as high up as N's personal floor, but it was definitely closer to the top of the building than ground level.

As a general rule, Touya wasn't a fan of elevator of rides because of the inherent awkwardness involved with cramming oneself into a tiny metal cage, usually while in the company of several people who were very often complete strangers.

In this case, however, the ride wasn't terrible. Or even awkward, for that matter - the silence seemed agreed upon rather than the result of being unable to come up with a topic of conversation.

When not talking to someone, Touya had a tendency to look around whatever room or setting he was in. Since an elevator could only be so interesting for so long, his eyes inevitably fell on N. And stayed there, because Touya wasn't going to lie and say that N wasn't interesting.

It wasn't even that he was more interesting than an otherwise empty elevator - a phrase that could quite honestly be applied to most people - it was that he was just interesting in general. Touya had already formed the opinion that N had a fascinating personality; this time, what was catching his interest was how N was moving.

A number of N's movements were largely unnecessary. N's fingers alternated between tapping absently at the walls or air and fiddling with the mysterious cube at his side that Touya had noticed before but didn't know what it was. Probably a puzzle of some sort.

N rocked almost unnoticeably back and forth on the balls of his feet, and Touya had the feeling that he wasn't even aware of it. Touya wondered if the extra movements were because N naturally needed to be occupied with something.

Touya tracked N's eyes, which seemed to be watching the spot where the elevator ticked off the passing floors. Touya turned his gaze back to N, not really registering the fact that he was staring until N's eyes met his.

Touya's first instinct was to apologize, which he almost did until he realized that doing so would only confirm that he'd been watching N. Instead, he quickly whipped his head away. He could feel his face burning, and he hoped that N hadn't noticed. If he had, he was too polite to comment on it.

Mercifully, the elevator doors opened to reveal the battlefield. N stepped out onto the padded floor with Touya following close behind. He walked a few feet towards the actual field before stopping just short of the white border. Zorua backflipped rather impressively onto the floor, and before Oshawott could attempt to emulate the maneuver, Touya gently set him on the ground.

"Most rules in battling depend on common sense and courtesy," N began. "The challenger is allowed to make the first move, but only after it has been confirmed that both sides are prepared. A battle is considered over either when a Pokemon faints or when it becomes dangerous for it to continue."

N paused for a moment, giving Touya enough time to absorb the rules - though since he was right in saying that they were mostly based on courtesy, Touya was sure that it wouldn't be hard to remember them.

"But what is most important to keep in mind is this - in warfare, none of these rules matter. A battle ends only when one opponent falls, and there is nothing preventing a Pokemon from attacking and killing the opposing trainer." N looked at Touya searchingly; in response, Touya nodded.

"I understand." N seemed to relax, and Touya guessed that N was relieved that he'd managed to impress upon him how dangerous actual combat could be. It was kind of N to worry, and Touya appreciated it more than he probably should have.

Touya wondered if N was always this concerned about others before deciding that that was most likely the case, as N was a nice person and would therefore naturally be interested in preventing people from accidentally getting themselves killed.

It was still nice to know that N was worried about him, though.

"It's also important to know the moves that your Pokemon is capable of."

Touya frowned. "I don't know what moves Oshawott has." Hearing his name, Oshawott immediately looked up at Touya.

"That's alright," N said reassuringly. "Oshawott should know."

"Sha!" Oshawott agreed, launching into a series of sounds that Touya didn't really understand but had the feeling that N did. Once Oshawott quieted down, N turned back to face Touya.

"He knows Tackle and Tail Whip, which are normal given his level. Tackle is a basic physical attack, whereas Tail Whip lowers the opponent's defense." N looked contemplative, and Touya figured that he was probably wondering if he'd covered everything. "Do you have any questions?"

Touya shook his head; between the battle he'd seen and what N had just covered, Touya didn't think that he needed to ask about anything.

"In that case, are both of you ready?"

Oshawott made a noise that sounded like a definite 'yes', jumping up and down for good measure. Touya took a few seconds to come a decision.

"Yes."

* * *

**A/N:** Originally, Touya's conversation with Cheren was going to go in a completely different direction, but I thought that having Cheren actually learn something from his time in Snowpoint as opposed to just getting into an argument with Touya was the best way to go.


	17. Resolution

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 16: Resolution -**

N studied Touya for a moment, as if to confirm that he was actually prepared for the battle.

"Before we begin, I need to remove Oshawott's limiter." Though that should have seemed obvious, it hadn't occurred to Touya until now that the collar would need to come off before any sort of battling could be done.

N knelt down, taking a tiny screwdriver out of his pocket. "Can I look at your collar?" he asked Oshawott, who nodded and padded closer to N. N unscrewed one of the limiter's small panels, placing the piece by his feet. Several wires were revealed, each the same shade of grey and wound up in the others in a confusing tangle.

Zorua wandered towards N, eventually sitting down but looking relatively disinterested. He yawned, thwapping his tail lazily against the cushioned floor.

Touya wasn't sure what N was going to do. Messing with the limiter in any fashion was illegal, and he'd been told in school that a collar would send out a signal in case of tampering.

N took out a tiny box with wire sticking out of both sides, as well as a thin but serrated knife and a travel-sized bottle of glue. Without hesitation, he took the knife and began delicately slicing the casing of one of the wires. By this point, Touya was terribly curious as to what was going on, so he knelt down next to N to watch.

Seeing that he'd garnered Touya's interest, N started explaining the procedure while cutting out a small square from the wire's casing. "When a limiter detects that a Pokemon is about to attack, it sends out a minor electric shock, which paralyzes the Pokemon's muscles and prevents it from executing the move."

N pulled a pair of rubber gloves out of his pocket and put them on, and Touya briefly wondered if he always carried such an array of tools around or only had them in preparation for today. N picked up the little box he'd taken out earlier. "This," he said, turning to show Touya, "intercepts the flow of electricity and holds it temporarily. Instead of being dispersed all at once, the shock is gradually released in small amounts."

Touya watched as N sliced through just one of the tiny strands that made up the whole wire, then maneuvered the box into place and tied its wires into the cut strand.

"Can't the government tell if a limiter's been modified?" Touya asked, curious as to how N was managing not to trip the signal.

"Usually, yes; but only if the current is interrupted." N placed the rectangular piece of wire coating back into its former position, attaching it with glue.

"That's why you cut just part of the wire," Touya stated, pleased with himself for figuring it out.

N nodded, smiling faintly. "That's correct." He reattached the panel and screwed it shut, removing his gloves and shoving the supplies into his pockets. N stood up, and Touya quickly followed suit.

"Now that Oshawott's limiter has been modified, there should be nothing to prevent him from attacking. Would you like to test an attack?"

"Alright," Touya agreed. "Oshawott, can you use Tail Whip?" Oshawott wiggled his tail around for a few seconds before stopping.

"I ... I can't tell if it worked or not." To begin with, he didn't even understand how a Pokemon shaking its tail translated into lowering the opponent's defense. He looked at Zorua to see if he looked any less ... defensive, maybe? Zorua blinked, evidently unimpressed with Touya's amateurishness.

"There isn't a reliable way to tell outside of battle if a move like Tail Whip has worked," N informed him, looking like he wanted laugh, probably at Touya's completely befuddled expression. "But since Oshawott was able to respond to your command, then that means that the modification was successful."

"Does that mean that he's ready?"

"Yes," N replied, glancing at the arena ahead of him. "Which side would you prefer?"

Touya looked at the battlefield, trying to determine whether there were any differences between the right and left sides. Seeing none, he let his mind do the picking and chose the side that was the first to pop into his head.

"The right," Touya said, and though he sounded somewhat unsure, N seemed to accept Touya's decision as he and Zorua headed off for the left side. Touya walked over to the right side of the battlefield, and Oshawott took a few steps ahead of Touya and waited.

Touya took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very nervous at the prospect of battling. He knew that N wouldn't let him or Oshawott get hurt, but it was still difficult overcoming a lifetime of propaganda telling him that all battles were dangerous and brutal.

"You can begin whenever you're ready," N told him after a moment of Touya not doing anything. Touya was grateful that N was letting him move at his own pace. He breathed in again, straightening up a little and looking straight ahead.

"Oshawott, use Tackle!" Oshawott rushed toward Zorua, head down in anticipation of ramming into the other Pokemon. Unfortunately, this meant that Oshawott wasn't able to see where he was going. Instead of dodging, Zorua calmly watched as Oshawott veered off course, tripped, and plowed into the ground.

Touya was a little worried until Oshawott sprung up and looked back at him, grinning to tell Touya that he was unharmed.

"Try again," N advised Oshawott, who had already started to back away from Zorua. "But this time, lower your head at the last second."

Oshawott once again careened towards Zorua, only letting his head down right before the anticipated impact - though Zorua neatly sidestepped the attack, it was far more accurate that it had been before.

Now that Oshawott's attack had a better chance of hitting its mark, N gave Zorua his first command, telling him to use Leer. Zorua did as he was told, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Oshawott fiercely enough to cause the water Pokemon to freeze.

Touya looked to see if the move was actuallydoing anything other than scaring Oshawott; if it was, he couldn't tell. Oshawott was a little shaken up, but Touya thought that overall he seemed okay.

"Tackle!" Touya had the feeling that he should probably be doing something other than straight up attacking, but he also felt like bothering to lower Zorua's defense was a waste of time since none of Oshawott's attacks had hit yet.

Oshawott snapped out of whatever sort of trance he'd been in and charged at Zorua. Zorua's eyes shone, and before Touya could think, he yelled for Oshawott to stop. Oshawott ground to a halt and quickly began backpedaling, glancing backwards at his trainer in confusion.

"You knew that Zorua was going to use Detect," N stated, sounding just as perplexed as Oshawott looked. But he was mostly right - Touya might not have known the name of the move that Zorua was going to use, but he had known that some sort of barrier was coming.

"In the battle I saw, before that Purrloin's attack was deflected, Zorua's eyes glinted. I thought it might be the same thing."

"You're correct. A Pokemon's eyes shine before Detect is used." Touya didn't think that realizing this was anything special - he'd just happened to notice it when he was watching the practice battle a few days ago - but N sounded at least somewhat impressed, which made Touya appreciate the observation. Even if it was mostly accidental.

The battle resumed, and Touya considered his options. He could just keep trying to have Oshawott crash into Zorua, but that hadn't worked out so far, so he figured that a bit of strategy was most likely necessary.

"Tail Whip!" He still wasn't convinced that this was an effective move, but since Tackle didn't seem to be working too well, it was worth a try.

"Fury Swipes!" Zorua sprung forward, running towards Oshawott and battering him with a barrage of slaps. Oshawott stumbled backwards, throwing up his arms in an attempt to ward off the attack.

"Oshawott, Tackle!" Oshawott stopped flailing about and tackled Zorua. Touya was proud of Oshawott for hitting Zorua before the Pokemon could dodge, though it was probably more accident than suddenly developed skill.

Zorua stumbled momentarily, but he quickly righted himself and hopped backwards, putting some distance between himself and Oshawott. "Dark Pulse!"

Unable to dodge in time, Oshawott lost his balance as the attack slammed into him and he fell to the floor. Slowly, Oshawott wobbled to his feet, but he seemed to be shaking.

"Oshawott?" Touya asked, concerned. Oshawott tried to look back at Touya, but fell flat on his face instead. Touya hesitated for a moment, unsure if it way okay to rush onto the battlefield.

"It's alright," N said, catching Touya's conflicted expression. "The battle is over." Touya ran towards Oshawott, picking him up and cradling him in his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a little bit of worry seeping into his voice. N and Zorua walked over to where Touya was standing. Oshawott responded with a quiet mewl.

"He's going to be fine," N assured Touya, taking some sort of strange object out of his pocket. It looked to be made of plastic, and it was predominately silver and purple with what looked to be a nozzle near the top. "This will restore the health he lost in battle."

N bent his knees so that he was at Oshawott's eye level. "Can you close your eyes for a moment?" Oshawott did as N asked, and N gently sprayed Oshawott with the medicine.

Instantly, Touya could tell that Oshawott felt better. Oshawott had already begun wriggling in a way that indicated that he wanted out of Touya's arms so that he could run around. Touya set him down before he decided to jump out.

Touya watched Oshawott chase Zorua around in a circle, unsuccessfully attempting to catch the faster Pokemon. He knew that there were a few things he could say to N that would be perfectly sensible; instead, he asked, "How did I do?"

What was embarrassing about it was that Touya was seriously interested in the answer. He really wanted to know how N thought the battle had gone - or, more importantly, how N thought that _Touya_ had done.

"You did well," N responded, and Touya felt a little elated until N added, "considering that this battle was your first." Which he probably should have expected, because Touya wasn't a battling prodigy and N wasn't a liar. "One mistake you made was attacking too often. Instead of charging in for an attack, it's sometimes best to avoid your opponent's assault until an opportunity presents itself. Do you know why Oshawott landed the one attack he did?"

Touya remembered the one successful Tackle Oshawott had made. Touya had thought that it was chance that Oshawott had caught Zorua off-guard, but N seemed to think that there was more to it than that.

Touya replayed the attack in his mind, and before long had what he was fairly sure was the correct answer.

"After attacking, Zorua was close to Oshawott, and that's why his Tackle worked."

"Right. As long as you have a strategy in mind, waiting and studying your opponent's movements is often useful. Oshawott was able to dodge Zorua's Detect because of an observation you made - if you practice and continue to learn, then I have no doubt that you'll become skilled at battling."

"Thanks," Touya said sheepishly, blushing faintly. "I was nervous at first, but I thought the battle was exciting. I liked working together with Oshawott."

"Would you like to have another battle sometime?"

"Maybe not the next time I visit, but I do want to battle again." Touya was somewhat surprised that he wanted to try battling for a second time.

One of the problems he'd had with joining Team Plasma was that he didn't think that he'd be able to battle well enough to be a useful member. While his skills as they currently were did leave some to be desired, N had said that he'd definitely be able to improve, so Touya knew that though he wouldn't be a fantastic member, he at least wouldn't be deadweight.

Joining an anti-government group was probably not a decision to make partially on impulse, but in his defense, he_ had_ thought about it before that moment, and he possessed several valid reasons for wanting to join.

"N," Touya said, trying to sound confident in what he was saying, "I want to join Team Plasma."

* * *

**A/N:** The device that N installs in Oshawott's limiter is made up (although it may very well exist in real life without my knowledge). I was going to have N use a transformer to step down the current, but I realized that transformers need to be grounded, which is impossible to do with something like the collar.

Some of you may have noticed that when Zorua uses Fury Swipes, there's no mention of claws. Zorua intentionally had his claws sheathed so that he wouldn't scar Oshawott - it's only a practice battle, after all.


	18. Guesses and Numbers

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 17: Guesses and Numbers -**

N looked only vaguely surprised at his request - though Touya supposed that N would have been more surprised if he hadn't brought it up a couple of days ago.

"... Are you sure?" N asked, looking at Touya for any signs that he was joking.

"Yes," Touya assured him. In reality, though, he was doubting whether or not he'd made the correct choice. But it was the choice he'd made, and he was going to stick with it.

N caught Touya's gaze, looking him in the eye. "If you're certain, then..." N trailed off, presumably trying to figure out what to say, "well, there isn't any sort of joining procedure. As far as I am concerned, you're now an official member."

"Um, thank you. For letting me join."

"I don't know if I'm making the right choice," N admitted, in a way that made it sound like admitting to being uncertain was something to be ashamed of. "But I did make an offer, and I do not intend to rescind it." After a moment, N seemed to realize that his words could be interpreted as him not wanting Touya to join, and he added, "I'm glad that you will be spending more time here."

"So am I," Touya blurted out before it occurred to him that silence would be the less embarrassing route. Blushing, he looked away - there was no way he could maintain eye contact with N after what he'd just said.

But it was true, of course. While he had been dropping by almost every day, he now had a perfectly valid excuse to do so, and he would most likely be staying for longer.

Touya started speaking before N could make a comment on what he'd said. "What do I have to do?"

"Battling practice is held everyday, but attendance is only required twice a week. Members are expected to be prepared for a mission or task at all times, but as we're still gathering information, it's usually only the specialists who have to leave." N seemed to consider something for a moment. "Training is generally led by instructors, but I'd like to teach you myself, if you don't mind."

"I don't," Touya replied quickly, a little embarrassed at how eager he sounded - it was fairly obvious just how much he _didn't _mind having N teach him personally.

N had a look that Touya knew meant that he was wondering if it was alright to say something. Touya waited patiently for a few seconds until N decided to voice his thoughts. "Will you still visit, even on days when you do not have training?"

Touya blinked, surprised that N would worry about him potentially not dropping by when he'd been going to the Team Plasma building practically every day. "Yes," he answered, as if it were obvious. Touya was just starting to wonder how N would respond when N seemed to remember something.

"Could you tell me your phone number?"

The question was so out of the blue that at first, Touya just stared. Once the words actually registered, Touya found himself blushing. He nodded, the movement made somewhat jerky by how nervous he was, and gave N his number.

It wasn't actually his personal number - any mobile device that could make calls was prohibited. If Touya had to guess, it was probably because those sorts of calls would be more difficult to monitor. Instead, it was the number to the phone in his apartment, and Touya was a little amazed that he'd managed to remember it.

The unfortunate part of this whole thing was that if N did call, then Touko would hear the phone ringing. Being the extremely nosy and somewhat hyperactive person she was, she usually rushed towards the phone and grabbed it as soon as she heard the first ring. And without caller I.D. - because Touya would never pick up the phone unless he knew who was calling - N would almost certainly have to deal with Touko before he was able to talk to Touya.

This situation wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that Touya knew that Touko was going to be waiting to tease him about N calling. But even considering both what he'd have to go through and his passionate hatred for telephones, Touya was quickly warming to the idea of being able to talk to N when he couldn't be at the Plasma headquarters.

Presumably upon seeing Touya's reactionary blush, N decided to clarify his request. "I only ask in case it becomes necessary to contact you should an emergency occur. Not because..." N paused for a moment, recognizing that he should have just quit talking while he was ahead, "Not because of any other reason."

And now both of them were blushing, and neither was particularly convinced by N's final words.

* * *

Touya returned to the apartment to find Touko and Cheren lounging on the couch. Touko was reading a book while glancing occasionally at the news on the television, and Cheren was completely ignoring everything around him in favour of his laptop screen. Touya wondered what on earth Touko had done to convince Cheren to leave his temporary room.

Servine and Tepig were asleep on the middle of the couch, and Oshawott quickly dropped to the floor and ran over to join them.

"Did you go see N?" she asked. She hadn't lifted her head, but Touya could see that instead of reading her book, she was glancing at him out of the corners of her eyes waiting for him to answer.

"Yes," he replied simply, hoping that Touko would leave it at that.

"You've been out a while," she remarked casually. The fact that Touko had left before he had and therefore had no way of knowing when he'd actually left the apartment went right over his head, and so Touya felt the need to defend himself.

"Not really," he answered weakly.

Touya noticed that, by this point, Cheren had torn his gaze away from his computer and was looking at Touya. He was still typing at a speed that was somewhat terrifying in its alacrity, and Touya refused to be impressed by the fact that Cheren didn't even need to look at the keyboard to type.

"What were you doing?" Cheren asked. At this, Touko gave up all pretense of being absorbed in her reading and swiveled her head around in a shameless attempt to gauge Touya's reaction.

The first thing that Touya remembered was giving N his number, when both of them had blushed. At the memory, Touya's face immediately turned red.

"You're blushing," Cheren pointed out matter-of-factly, and Touko started laughing, immensely amused by her brother's reaction.

"That's... so.. cute!" she managed between giggles.

"We only talked!" Touya protested. Which was kind of untrue, seeing as he and N had also battled, but this reason was definitely not the reason that Touko was thinking of.

"Sure," Touko said mockingly as her laughter quieted down. Touya still looked a bit horrorstruck, so Touko asked, "You know that it's okay to admit you have a crush on him, right?"

"But I _don't_," Touya objected. While Touko liked to tease him, she seemed to think that he actually did have a crush on N, which wasn't true at all. Obviously.

Some rebellious part of his mind pointed out that him liking N would definitely explain things, but Touya quickly and thoroughly buried that thought because it _wasn't true_.

"Really?" Cheren asked, in a way which implied that he thought that Touya was a complete idiot. Touya frowned - he was trying to convince people that he wasn't lying, but no one seemed to believe him.

"Really," he responded dryly.

Touko and Cheren just looked at him for a moment, and Touya thought that he could almost feel their skepticism.

"You're serious," Touko stated, and Touya nearly rolled his eyes because _of course_ he was being serious.

"This_ is_ Touya you're discussing," Cheren said to her, as if that alone explained everything. Touya felt like there was something huge that he just wasn't getting.

Touya decided that it was time for him to leave the room. As he left, the television blared something about an increase in Unova military numbers and a scheduled blackout, both of which he tuned out as unimportant.

* * *

Work had passed by uneventfully. After it had ended, Touya had walked along with Touko and Bianca until he reached the point where he usually split off to head to the Plasma headquarters. Touko had grinned when she'd seen him leaving, and Touya had pointedly ignored her.

Touya waited at the headquarters' entrance, knowing that he wouldn't have to loiter near the door much longer. Sure enough, a Team Plasma member soon opened the door and ushered him inside. Touya wasn't really surprised when he was once again told to head for the twenty-seventh floor and sent off on his own.

When the elevator doors opened, he hadn't expected N to be nearby - the past two times, he'd either been in one of the back rooms or on another floor entirely. N was holding a precariously tall pile of books, in the middle of ferrying them around when Touya entered the room. N stopped what he was doing, setting down the stack of books and walking towards Touya.

His curiosity piqued, Touya couldn't help but ask N what he'd been doing toting around all those books. N's gaze flickered briefly over the sea of book piles - Touya could have sworn that they'd multiplied by at least a factor of two since he'd last been there - before settling back on Touya.

"It's an attempt at organization," N explained, sounding like he wasn't really sure how successfully his attempt was going at the moment. "But I seem to have accumulated more books than I'd thought."

"How many do you have?" Touya asked, trying to come up with his own guess. Between himself, Touko, and his mother, Touya thought that they'd had about two hundred books floating around the house, thirty or so of which he and Touko had actually taken with them to Castelia. Since N probably read more than Touya's entire family combined, Touya guessed that N maybe had around three or four hundred books.

"So far, I've counted fourteen hundred and twenty-two volumes."

Touya was pretty sure that he wasn't even going to read more than that number of books in his entire lifetime.

"Have you read all of them?" Touya asked before he could stop himself. As curious as he might be, he usually didn't voice most of the questions he had. But there was something about N that made Touya want to learn more about him, even if it was something as seemingly trivial as whether or not he'd read all of the books he owned.

"No," N replied, shaking his head and smiling faintly. He started walking to the left, and Touya immediately started following before he even realized where he was heading - towards the small couch that had appeared a few days ago. "Amongst the books I own, I have read... nine hundred and fifty, perhaps?" he hazarded, and Touya got the sense that it killed N that his answer lacked precision. But it didn't matter to Touya; the number was impressive regardless.

Reaching his destination, N sat down on the coach, and Touya did the same.

"Would you like to know how Team Plasma was founded?"

* * *

**A/N:** This is slightly depressing, but I did spend more time than you'd probably think determining how many books N owns and how many of them he's read. Since I inhabit only a single (but admittedly large) room and N has an entire floor, I doubled my personal library to get the number of books for N's. I figured that, between commanding Team Plasma and getting books from libraries or online, there's no way that N would be able to read even close to all of the books he has.


	19. Questions and Answers

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 18: Questions and Answers -**

Touya nodded. If N hadn't brought the topic of Team Plasma's origins up, Touya likely would have eventually - one of the main reasons he'd come today had been to learn about the organization he'd so recently joined, and how it had all started was fundamental knowledge.

"Team Plasma was founded thirteen years ago by my ... predecessor. He said that his goal was to free Pokemon from their captivity - to free them from humans." Touya wondered who this mysterious 'predecessor' was and what N had been about to say. "For a while, I believed that he had good intentions. I was, however, mistaken."

"When I was ten I discovered, mainly by accident, that the Pokemon whom Team Plasma was 'liberating' were being trained for battle and then sold abroad for use as weapons."

Though Touya hadn't known what to expect when N had offered to explain how Team Plasma had come about, he at least knew that he hadn't expected _this_. For an organization such as N's to have had such a horrific beginning was startling.

Touya felt bad for N - N was idealistic and hopeful, and to find out that a person he believed in was no more than a criminal must have been a particularly large blow.

But Touya couldn't help but think that N was strong as well. How else could he have taken control of and Team Plasma and reformed it, even after discovering what was occurring in the shadows?

"I tried to plan and gather supporters, but there wasn't much I could do."

N sounded like this was completely his fault and entirely due to some set of perceived shortcomings. Touya very nearly pointed out that he'd been _ten-years-old _at the time, and that even attempting to plan a coup of an organization at that age was infinitely more impressive than anything that Touya'd been doing when _he_ was ten.

"In the end, however, it didn't matter. Three years later, Team Plasma's former leader disappeared and has been missing ever since."

The first thing Touya thought was that that sounded far too convenient. He then gave himself a swift mental kick, because there was no way that N would condone murder. It must have been an accident - not that that made it any less mysterious. But if N knew what happened, then he would have told him.

... Probably. Unless he had a fantastic reason not to, which Touya supposed was possible.

"After that, I assumed control of the organization. Anyone associated with the Pokemon trafficking was forced to leave, and the practice was stopped immediately. I started reforming Team Plasma and planning for its future. It might have been founded on lies, but I thought that it could be salvaged."

Touya wondered what kind of position N had been in before his mysterious predecessor had left. It was obvious that N was extremely intelligent, but intelligence alone didn't guarantee that people would listen to what a person had to say, especially if the person in question was only thirteen.

N must have done_ something_ to convince Team Plasma that he was worth listening to. Either that, or he was in a situation where his succession would be expected. Which of course begged the question of how N was related to this predecessor.

"I wanted to save it," N admitted, voice low.

"You have," Touya said, surprised by the level of conviction in his voice. He wasn't sure N actually knew what he'd managed to do - running an anti-government organization that was not only non-violent but also had a goal for the future that was in the people's best interest was almost a miracle.

"Thank you," N murmured sincerely, and Touya felt his face heat up. He was more than a little self-conscious by this point, but he didn't want to look away from N.

"Is there anything that you would like to know about Team Plasma?" N asked after a brief moment of peaceful silence. "As you're now a member, I can answer any questions that you may have."

Touya thought for a moment. Obviously, he already had a good idea of what Team Plasma's activities consisted of - N had told him that all they were doing at the moment was gathering intelligence - but he knew that there were probably other things going on that he wasn't aware of.

He was dying to know more details about Team Plasma's former leader, but since N had been intentionally vague on the matter, it was clear that he wasn't up to talking about it. So Touya decided not to ask - although he hoped that N would eventually choose to explain it himself of his own accord.

"How did Team Plasma get its name?" He regretted asking it immediately after he'd done so, mainly because it was kind of a dumb question. Sure, he was curious about this particular topic, but in the long run, did where the name came from really matter?

Touya was pretty sure that the answer to that was emphatically no.

N looked somewhat amused at the question, but he answered it without comment. "Plasma is the fourth state of matter and, though present on earth in forms such as lightning, is most commonly found in stars. I can't speak for certain, but I believe that the intention was to imply that the name of Team Plasma would be as well-known as the stars in the sky."

The name didn't fit in some respects; with N at the helm, Team Plasma's goal was neither fame nor money. But Touya thought that the parallel between plasma and the stars still held true. There was something progressive and forward-thinking about space, and it could probably be said that those who look to the stars also look ahead.

Alternatively, he could just be over-thinking the matter entirely. N was looking at him somewhat expectantly, presumably in anticipation of another question.

"I, um, don't have any more questions." In retrospect, it was slightly pathetic for his only question to have been regarding the origin of Team Plasma's name, but there just wasn't anything else that was occurring to him. If he'd had time to think about it, he probably could have come up with something, though.

"That's fine," N assured him. "But if you don't mind, then I would like to tell you about the information that was acquired a little over a week ago by the operative who was killed."

Touya remembered that woman, as well as the sinking feeling he'd had when he was told that she'd been murdered. Though he found it strange that it had only been just over a week, for it seemed far longer.

"Have you heard of Zekrom and Reshiram?" N asked.

Touya nodded, though he was a little taken aback by the non sequitur.

Not that he saw what two made-up Pokemon had to do with anything. Myths and legends had always been discouraged by the government, though things such as fictional novels were fine as long they were_ clearly_ fictional. And not treasonous in any way, though that mostly went without saying.

Touya had never really given it much thought, but he supposed that it was because myths operated under the assumption that their fantastical claims were true. Belief in something mysterious, something that might prove more powerful than a certain Unova dictator, was a very dangerous belief indeed.

Either way, the tale of Reshiram and Zekrom was mentioned only briefly one time during Touya's elementary school experience. It was presented as a moral; wage war on one's own land, and one destroys it. It was a justification for Unova only fighting abroad and not on its own soil.

Touya's teacher had acknowledged - somewhat mockingly, and with a great deal of amusement - that people used to believe that Reshiram and Zekrom existed. He'd made it clear that the two dragons were only meant to personify truth and ideals, therefore making these abstract concepts more relatable.

"The information she obtained confirms that Zekrom and Reshiram exist." N paused, letting his words sink in. "They're sleeping in the form of two orbs; one black, one white. Unfortunately, it isn't clear what would be required to wake them, and we are unsure of their current location. The government is after the orbs - most likely to prevent anyone else from utilizing them, but there may be other factors at play."

"Does the government know where they are?" For now, Touya was going to assume that N's information was correct, even though it was difficult for him to believe. N sounded convinced, and Touya thought that N would probably tell him if he weren't sure.

Still, this revelation wasn't easy to handle, and he didn't know how he was supposed to react to finding out that Pokemon he'd thought were imaginary were actually real. He wondered if the story surrounding Reshiram and Zekrom was also true, or if it was invented after both of the dragons were discovered.

"That, I do not know. Information wise, the government is likely ahead of us, though there isn't a way to confirm this fact. Our spies are currently being forced to lie low, so news is being reported far more slowly than usual."

It did made sense that the Team Plasma members who'd manage to infiltrate the government wouldn't want to make any radical or even remotely risky moves, given that one of their own was recently discovered and executed.

"For now, all we can do is wait for new information to trickle in."

* * *

Touya was still half-asleep by the time he arrived at the factory. He'd woken up a little later than expected, so he hadn't had time to transition from 'just woke up' to 'actually awake'. Regardless of his mental state, work was about to start, so he'd have to wake up soon whether he was ready for it or not.

The national anthem began to play, and Touya reflexively stood up and placed his right hand over his heart. He'd been hearing the anthem since before he was old enough to understand all of the words, as morning recitation was mandatory in all schools.

The words no longer held any meaning for Touya, and he felt like he was simply miming empty bits of speech. It was, however, out of the question not to say the anthem - even moving his mouth and only pretending to speak was too risky. Refusing to recite the anthem was treason, so choosing not to do it when surrounded by people would be idiotic.

The anthem ended, and everyone took their seats. The loudspeakers switched to a new voice, heralding the start of the announcement. Touya always hoped that they had a lot of information to announce. After all, the more time the loudspeakers kept going, the less time he had to work.

Touya spent more time focusing on not falling asleep than he did paying attention to the announcements. After the loudspeaker's somewhat tinny voice quieted, he prepared himself for a the day's work.

* * *

When the door to the Team Plasma headquarters opened, Touya was once again surprised and slightly flustered to see that N had come down to greet him. Perhaps a little more shyly than he would have liked, Touya said hello, and N responded in turn.

They both walked to the elevator with N leading the way and, predictably, began the ascent to the twenty-seventh floor. Touya was in the middle of trying very hard not to look in N's direction when he sensed that something was wrong.

Before he could actually articulate what that something was, the elevator slammed to a halt and the lights cut off, plunging the small space into darkness.

* * *

**A/N:** About two minutes ago, I checked to see if there was ever an official explanation for Team Plasma's name origin (... I probably should have done this sooner and before I actually wrote the part where N explains it). There isn't an _official_ explanation, but Bulbapedia does have an interesting theory. Regardless, I'm sticking with my explanation just because it works better for the sake of this fic - I'm pretty sure that N is the only one in Team Plasma who would know anything about the composition of atoms in a plasma state, and he wasn't the one who named the group.

If you're confused about the female operative Touya and N are talking about, she's the one who was mentioned in chapter nine.

Lastly, I debated whether or not to keep the factory scene in this chapter. It originally contained somewhat important information, but I decided to save it for the next chapter. I ended up keeping the scene because it breaks up Touya's time at the Plasma headquarters, and I think that the bit about the national anthem is at least mildly interesting.


	20. Side Story: Bianca

To preempt any sort of confusion, this chapter takes place before Bianca leaves for Castelia and Cheren goes off to war.

* * *

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Side Story: On the Rooftop -**

Just minutes ago, Bianca had finished the last piece of weekend homework - a set of math problems that she knew she'd probably gotten incorrect, but she'd tried her best - and packed up her scattered school supplies triumphantly. Now that she was free, all she really wanted to do was go into Accumula Town with her friends.

She was currently standing outside of Touko and Touya's house, waiting for one of the two - probably Touko - to come and open the door in response to the doorbell. She heard muffled voices from within followed by the tapping of energetic feet against the floor.

The door was very nearly flung open, but Bianca was more than used to this sort of thing by now.

"Hello!" Touko greeted her cheerfully, backing away from the door so that Bianca could enter. Bianca shuffled inside, taking a quick glance around the room to see if Touya was anywhere to be found. The room was, however, empty.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Accumula Town today," Bianca said. Touko didn't usually need much convincing in order to go places; in fact, it was generally the other way around, with Touko asking Bianca to come with her.

Nuvema was purely residential, so there was barely anything to do. Bianca had heard that there used to be some sort of laboratory in town, but the supposed former lab had long since been converted into a house.

Accumula Town was still tiny, but it was a whole lot livelier, sporting street musicians and shops to look at. Even just walking along Route 1 was interesting, though the electric fence that was up to keep out wild Pokemon was somewhat unpleasant to be around, especially at night.

When Bianca was a child, she'd always been scared that she would inexplicably be compelled to touch the fence, or accidentally fall on it, or even be pushed into it. As a kid, the idea of being so close to so deadly an object was terrifying.

Bianca thought that maybe it still was, but that she was just better had dealing with it now.

"Sure," Touko responded. "Is anyone else coming?"

"I was going to ask Touya and Cheren." Bianca glanced around the room again. "Where is Touya?"

"He's doing homework," Touko replied, in the slightly contemptuous tone of voice that only people who haven't quite gotten around to doing their homework yet are capable of using. "But if you want to go see Cheren, I can ask Touya if he wants to come along."

Bianca thanked Touko and left for Cheren's house. Nuvema might not have had a lot going on, but with its small size, everything was conveniently located in regard to everything else, so the walk only took a few minutes.

Bianca was sent upstairs by Cheren's mother. Knowing her way around, she went straight for Cheren's room. She could hear the clacking of rapidfire typing as she entered the room.

Cheren didn't notice her until Snivy, seemingly alarmed by the intrustion, jabbed him in the shoulder and pointed at Bianca with a single vine. Cheren immediately stopped typing. Though Bianca didn't have a view of the laptop's screen, from the way Cheren had just moved his hands, it looked like he'd either minimized the window or switched tabs.

Bianca was a little perplexed and somewhat suspicious - normally she wouldn't have even noticed, becaue Cheren doing strange things was a fact of life, but given how he'd been recently, she thought it was worth noting.

Cheren looked up at her with a slightly annoyed expression, but Bianca didn't let it bother her.

"Touko and I and maybe Touya are going to Accumula," she began, explaining in a rush. "Do you want to come, too?"

Cheren actually seemed to consider it for a moment, which was more than Bianca had been expecting. For the past few weeks, Cheren had been even more reclusive than usual - this attempt was certaintly not the first that she'd made recently to draw Cheren into doing something social.

"No," Cheren eventually said, turning back to face his laptop.

"Are you sure?" Bianca asked, trying not to sound _too _deflated. Cheren glanced at her like she should know by now that he was never unsure. Or, at least, that he tried to _appear_ not to be unsure.

"Yes."

"... Alright."

* * *

It was Sunday, and Bianca finished her chores she found that she had nothing to do. She considered stopping by to see if Touko and Touya - who'd ended up finishing his homework in time to go to Accumula after all - were willing to do something with her.

As someone who considered herself at least slightly responsible, though, she couldn't bring herself to invite Touko anywhere today. Touko always saved her work for the last minute and would be sure to jump on any excuse to procrastinate further. If Bianca asked her to go somewhere, then there'd be a good chance that Touko would leave her schoolwork unfinished, and Bianca didn't want her to get into trouble.

Touya almost certainly had his work finished by now, but Bianca knew that he probably wouldn't go if Touko didn't. Which really only left one person.

Bianca walked to Cheren's house knowing that the chances of him actually agreeing to do something with her were pretty slim. But even as she was ushered upstairs and headed towards his room, she still had a tiny sliver of hope.

This time, Cheren had heard her approaching and had gone ahead and pulled the top part of his laptop down, effectively plunging it into sleep mode. He was looking in the general direction of the door when Bianca entered the room.

"I was doing homework," he stated, managing to convey 'you have terrible timing' and 'I'm busy and certainly have better things to be doing' in a single statement. The only problem was that Bianca was almost completely sure that he was lying.

No matter how much Cheren complained about the homework being too easy or being busywork, he always did it the day he was assigned. Without fail, all of his weekend work would be done Friday night, leaving him a huge amount of free time. He also rarely willingly volunteered information - Bianca had complained one day about not being able to tell when Cheren was lying, and Touya had informed her that him talking more than he needed to was a pretty good indicator.

And though Bianca might be terrible at telling when people were lying, but she could certainly recognize patterns. There was no reason for Cheren to develop a sudden need to procrastinate.

Cheren didn't usually have a problem with lying, but he only did it when it was absolutely necessary. Touko had once joked that if he watched how much he said, he could probably lie all the time and that no one would notice - to which Cheren had seriously responded that lying pointlessly was idiotic and would only serve to trap him sooner or later.

So Cheren was covering for something serious. Since he didn't particularly care what people thought about him, it wasn't because whatever he was looking at was embarrassing. It had to be something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

Bianca had the thought that maybe whatever it was could have something to do with how strangely Cheren had been acting lately, which automatically made it her duty as a friend to find out what was going on. Though calling people out on odd behaviour always made her extremely uncomfortable, she was worried for Cheren.

"That's... that's not true," Bianca said, stammering slightly due to nerves. "You aren't doing homework."

Cheren blinked, a flash of surprise flitting across his face before he was able to control his reaction. "You're right," he conceded. He sounded neither impressed nor upset - he was just acknowleding Bianca's correct guess.

He flicked his laptop up and went back to typing. Bianca tried really, desperately hard to get annoyed that he was basically ignoring her when she was only trying to help him.

"Can you tell me what you're doing?" she asked, somewhat pleadingly. "You haven't been acting normal lately, and I'm - I'm worried about you."

"You wouldn't want to know," he answered seriously. As cryptic as the answer might have been, however, at least it was honest.

"I can handle it," Bianca said. "I won't tell anyone."

Cheren looked at her critically. "I know you wouldn't. But that isn't the issue."

He turned back to face his computer.

* * *

Two days had passed since Bianca had called Cheren out on his lying, and though she hadn't thought it possible, Bianca was getting even more worried. Cheren hadn't eaten lunch with her, Touko, and Touya like he usually did, and he had been going home straight after school instead of sticking around.

Today, Bianca was going to do something to shed some light on whatever it was that was going on. It was Cheren's turn to clean up the classroom after school, and Bianca was going to take advantage of that fact. It had taken her practically all day for the idea to occur to her, so she was rather proud of her plan.

She bolted out of the building right after school ended, traversing the distance between her school in Accumula and her home in record time. She whipped in and out of her house, stopping only to greet her parents, answer their questions about how her day went, set down her messenger bag, and make sure that Munna was following her.

She knocked on the door to Cheren's house and was quickly let in.

"Cheren isn't here yet, dear," Cheren's mother informed her. "You can wait in his room, if you'd like."

Bianca politely thanked her and made her way upstairs. She'd been counting on Cheren's mother doing what she always did whenever Cheren wasn't home.

Bianca walked over to Cheren's sleeping computer and tried not to feel incredibly guilty about what she was about to do. It was for Cheren's sake, and even if she stumbled across some huge secret, it would be safe with her. Even if it hurt her to keep it.

She sat down at the desk and flipped the screen up. Munna floated serenely by her head, watching passively. Bianca pressed the power button, squirming a little in her chair due to nervousness. The start screen materialized, and she clicked on the only account.

Which happened to be password protected.

Bianca felt like an idiot for not anticipating this situation, because _of course_ Cheren would password protect his computer. But Bianca was determined.

She stared at the screen for a moment before typing in 'snivy'. The little box immediately shook and informed her that the password was incorrect. She tried twice more, each with the same level of success - so, none, really.

Not that she'd really thought that Cheren's password would actually_ be_ 'snivy', but she felt as if she had to do something. After another try, a prompt came up asking if she wanted a password hint. Excited, she clicked 'yes'.

_If you need a hint, then you shouldn't be accessing this computer._

Bianca squeaked in surprise as the laptop turned itself off. As luck - and this was obviously Cheren's luck, not hers - would have it, Cheren chose that exact moment to walk into his room, Snivy keeping pace by his feet.

Bianca felt her face grow red under his stare.

"You're rather determined," he remarked coolly, pulling a chair over to sit near the computer desk.

"I'm worried about you."

"So you've said."

Tense silence descended between them until Cheren caught Bianca's gaze, making sure that she was paying attention.

"If you'd like to know what I'm doing, say yes. Only know that you'll have to live with your choice."

Bianca pointedly ignored the extremely ominous tone in Cheren's voice, because while it was admittedly frightening to think of the consequences of saying yes, she knew that part of it was that Cheren was trying intentionally to scare her, because he didn't want her to get involved.

That, or he just didn't want to let anyone in one his secret. Either way, Bianca wasn't backing down.

"Yes."

Cheren gave Bianca a barebones yet adequate explanation of his anti-government activities, including a brief mention of the group he was working with. By the end of it, Bianca's mouth was hanging wide open in shock.

"I -" she began, realizing that she didn't know how to respond. "I need time to think."

She hurriedly excused herself and raced out of the room.

* * *

Cheren hadn't joined them for lunch yet - if he was ever going to - and Bianca couldn't really blame him. She still felt incredibly guilty for leaving in such a hurry; she knew that it was really hard to offend Cheren by being impolite, but sometimes she thought that he was just hiding what he was actually feeling.

Touko said something and stopped, drawing Bianca out of her thoughts. She realized that she hadn't heard a word that Touko had just said, and judging from the fact that Touko was looking at her, it had ended in a question.

"Sorry," Bianca said a little despondently, "I don't know what you just said."

"Don't worry about it," Touko replied, sounding concerned. "Is anything wrong?"

"Cheren..." Bianca trailed off. She'd said that she wouldn't tell anyone about what Cheren was doing, so she didn't know what to say.

"It's something to do with how he's been acting lately, isn't it?" Touko asked. She was clearly curious about what Bianca knew, but for once she was reigning herself in, which was something that Bianca really appreciated.

Bianca nodded. "I think... I think that I need to talk to him."

"I don't know where he'd be right now," Touko remarked, looking like she was trying to figure out any possible spots where Cheren could be.

"He might be on the roof," Touya suggested, taking Touko and Bianca by surprise. They both turned to look at him. Touya shifted a little uncomfortably under the sudden attention and averted his eyes, going back to reading his book.

* * *

Bianca had never been on the roof before - she was a little scared of heights, so she'd never had a desire to make her way to the highest place in the building - so she ended up wandering around the school's top floor before she was able to find the roof entrance. It was tucked out of the way at the end of the hallway.

She ascended the narrow stairway, opening the door and walking out onto the roof. The rooftop was white and smooth, and there was a metal railing around the entire perimeter off the rooftop. She spotted Cheren sitting with his legs threaded through the rails. His chin was resting on the railing, and he was holding out a book in front of him.

Bianca tried to ignore Cheren's blatant violation of basic safety-related common sense, and she walked over towards him. He didn't seem to notice her until she sat down.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted yesterday."

Cheren shut his book, not bothering to dog-ear or bookmark the page. He probably just remembered it.

"It didn't bother me," Cheren stated, turning around to face her. "But thank you for your apology."

Bianca was in shock for a second before she realized that this was Cheren's way of making up for dropping a bombshell on her yesterday - even if she had asked for it. She smiled, glad that Cheren wasn't mad at her.

"I've been thinking," Bianca began, preparing for what she was about to ask. "I... I want to help you. Even though what you're doing is illegal, I want to make Unova a better place, where everyone can be happy. I don't really have any skills, but I want to be useful."

Bianca could tell that Cheren was listening, but she wasn't sure how he would take her impromptu and somewhat rambling speech.

"... I'll consider it."

That was really the most she could have hoped for.

* * *

Cheren hadn't shown up for school. If this were anyone else, then Bianca wouldn't have given it much thought, but Cheren never, _ever_ missed school. He was the kind of person who would drag himself to school half-dead and with a one-hundred degree plus fever, or sporting some sort of almost mortal wound.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Bianca and Touko weren't in the same class as Touya, so they immediately grabbed him from his classroom and rushed back to Nuvema. They were all a little out of breath by the time they reached Cheren's house and knocked on the door.

Cheren's father answered, which was another sign that something was wrong, as he should have been at work.

"Cheren isn't here," he said, sounding defeated and hollow. "He left during the night."

"... Left? Where did he go?" Touko asked anxiously.

"He wrote a note, but all it said was that he'd enlisted in the army."

"But he isn't old enough yet," Bianca blurted out, still reeling from the news. No one said anything. After a few seconds of extremely awkward silence, Cheren's father fished a note out of his pocket.

"He also left this." He handed it to Bianca, who took it reflexively before she wondered why he was giving it to her. She flipped it over and saw that her name was written on the envelope. The letter was oddly bulky, as if it had a small object enclosed within it.

Confused, she thanked Cheren's father for giving it to her, dodging Touya and Touko's perplexed glances. They left soon after, and Bianca split off halfway to return home.

She practically ran all the way up to her room, plopping down on her bed and ripping the letter open. The envelope contained a USB and a note. She took out the jump drive and placed it on her bed, then grabbed the letter and started reading.

_If you still want to help, follow these steps:_

_1. Insert the USB._

_2. Install the program. After it's installed, destroy the USB and this letter._

_3. Run the program._

_4. Follow the instructions._

Bianca turned on her computer.

* * *

**A/N:** To clear things up, Cheren later writes in a note how he got himself into the army, which is how everyone knows about what happened.

I didn't expect it to be strange, but writing Touya from someone else's POV is really weird. I guess I've just gotten used to writing from his perspective.

Also, I'm sorry to leave off on that kind of cliff-hanger and then spring a side chapter on you. It just kind of happened. _ So, I'll tell you this: in chapter 17, there's a hint as to why the elevator stopped.


	21. In the Dark

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 19: In the Dark -**

Touya would have surely toppled to the floor if it hadn't been for N, whose reflexes were obviously somewhat better than Touya's, for he reached one arm out for the elevator's hand rail and one out to grab Touya's wrist.

Touya still lost his balance, but instead of crashing to the floor, he slammed into N. While this landing was certainly softer than the alternative, hitting the floor wouldn't have made him blush. Since N didn't move to disentangle himself from Touya, Touya went ahead and did it himself.

"Thanks," Touya said, his eyes roving blindly in the dark before settling on where he guessed N's face was. At least when they'd been touching, he'd known N's exact location.

"You're welcome," N replied, voice calm but with a vague hint of worry that Touya was surprised he could detect. Touya heard N reach into his pocket and draw out some sort of object. His eyes hadn't adjusted yet - if they were ever going to - so he couldn't see what it was.

"What's going on?" Touya asked, quelling the panic that was threatening to surface. He wasn't scared of the dark or claustrophobic or anything, but being trapped in a tiny, pitch-black space would make most people worry. Mostly, though, he was afraid that this was some sort of attack by the government - that they'd found Team Plasma out and were about to raid the building.

"It's the scheduled blackout," N replied. As his answer was met with silence since Touya had no idea what he was talking about, N quickly elaborated. "It's been on television, and it should have been announced every morning in the factories and other workplaces."

"... Oh," Touya said weakly. He was definitely going to pay attention to the morning announcements from now on. And not tune out the random heads-ups on the news. "Is there any reason for it?"

Touya had been through a couple of scheduled blackouts in the past, but the reasons for them were never publicized. He figured that there had to be _some _sort of reason, but that it was a secret. And if anyone would know what that secret was, it was probably N.

"Yes. I'll tell you in a moment, but I need to contact the head of security." He sounded apologetic, which made Touya feel guilty for diverting N's attention from things that actually mattered, like the safety of the building.

Touya slid down the wall, slowly but eventually arriving at the floor. He figured that he might as well sit down, as he'd probably be stuck in the elevator for a while.

"Is there a problem with the generators?" N asked, presumably speaking into whatever he'd pulled out of his pocket. A voice crackled over what Touya guessed was a radio in response, but Touya couldn't really hear it well enough to understand what the person was saying.

"I see," N said levelly after the person on the other end finished speaking. Touya thought that he sounded annoyed - which was strange, because while he'd seen N irritated before, he'd never seen him irritated directly at another person. There was another burst of noise from the other end. "No, it would be more prudent if we waited."

More noise. "I can't go anywhere at the moment; however, all that needs to be done is to secure the building." The radio crackled again. "Yes." After the radio had clicked off, the elevator returned to being swathed in silence.

Touya could hear N sit down on the floor. Though he couldn't see where he was, he had the sense that N was looking around in an attempt to find him. "I'm here," Touya said, hoping that N would be able to find him based on his voice. Touya had his ears trained in N's direction, and he listened as N slowly moved closer.

Touya instinctively tensed when N's arm came to rest against his, and N retracted his arm immediately and apologized.

"No, it's okay," Touya said quickly, surprised with himself. He scooted towards N until their arms were once again touching. Touya's heart rate had skyrocketed by this point, but touching N was somehow reassuring. Though the dark was distressing for obvious reasons, Touya appreciated it for the sole reason that it hid his blush.

Touya couldn't tell if N was surprised or not at the fact that Touya had evidently decided that physical contact was suddenly okay, but he sounded relatively normal when he spoke. "You were wondering about the cause of the blackout earlier. It's somehow related to the construction occurring at the Second Chasm."

Touya began dredging up memories about when he'd watched Crane's last address. He did sort of remember hearing something about the Second Chasm, but the details were vague.

"Has what's being built been announced?"

"Not officially, but I'm fairly sure of what it is regardless. Information was reported two weeks ago which indicated that an extensive facility, outfitted with secure holding cells, is to be built underground, along with unremarkable buildings on the surface to lessen suspicion."

Touya was just about to ask for further details when he got the feeling that something was off. It took him a second, but he realized what it was.

N was shaking. It was very faint, and had Touya only been looking at N, even with the lights on, he didn't think he'd be able to tell. It was only because he was pressed up against N's side that he'd noticed.

It certainly wasn't because the elevator was cold. Since the blackout had only recently robbed the building of its climate control, the space was just slightly warmer than room temperature. Factoring in the added heat that came from being right next to someone else, the elevator was more than warm and certainly nowhere near cool.

Also, N hadn't looked sick at all when he'd met Touya at the entrance to the building, and though it was certainly possible that he could be trying to act healthy, Touya had gotten fairly skilled at seeing through people pretending not to be sick - Cheren had done it all the time when they were in school together.

Which meant that neither temperature nor sickness was a likely culprit.

"N?" Touya asked tentatively. He didn't want to overstep his bounds, but if there was something bothering N, then he wanted to do anything he could to help him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," N said slowly, sounding surprised that Touya had asked.

"But..." Touya trailed off, worried but hesitant, "You're shaking."

Touya could feel N freeze still the moment he said it. After a beat of silence, Touya hastily stammered, "You, um, don't have to tell me, but... I'm worried." At the last part, N seemed to relax, but only slightly.

"... It's the dark," N admitted softly. "Logically, I understand that there is nothing frightening hiding in the shadows - darkness is only the absence of light, nothing more. But it... it isn't even entirely the dark that is the problem. It is being trapped in a dark location with no means of escape."

Touya had to admit that that was an oddly specific phobia. People could be born with a multitude of fears, but with something this specific, Touya thought that it seemed more likely that something had happened to N to make him afraid of this particular situation. He didn't really want to think about the kind of thing that would cause a person to develop a fear of being trapped in dark spaces.

"It's okay to be scared." It sounded childish - so very childish - but it was the best advice that Touya felt he could give. Phobias were by their very nature irrational, and they rarely surrendered to reason. So instead of trying to pretend like the object of the fear wasn't scary, maybe it was just best to admit that it was alright to be afraid of something.

"No, it isn't. As the leader of Team Plasma, I cannot allow myself to be frightened. I have to remain calm at all times, and I must always be able to command and make rational decisions. It should be easy," N paused for a second, "but it rarely is."

Touya wasn't sure what to say, but he was determined not to let the conversation lapse into silence. So he decided to wing it and hoped that his words adequately communicated what he really wanted to get across. "You said that you want to be rational all the time, but that isn't possible. Because people have emotions, and they can't help but be influenced by them. So... wouldn't it be better to use your emotions, instead of trying to ignore them?"

N didn't respond right away. He was, presumably, trying to figure out how to respond to Touya's question. Correction - Touya's highly personal question. He was again worried that he'd gone too far. Having very little experience with giving advice of such a personal nature, Touya had no basis of comparison.

"I was once told that I had no emotions," N said softly. The vulnerability in his voice only highlighted the absolute falseness of what he'd been told; after all, it was impossible for a person to be vulnerable if they didn't have emotions.

For a second, Touya wasn't sure that he'd heard N correctly. N clearly had emotions, so saying anything to the contrary was absurd. Touya wasn't sure if it was something in N's voice, but he just knew that when N had been told that he had no emotions, the person telling him so had been completely serious.

Telling someone this kind of thing in jest or when angry was bad enough, but to do so in perfect seriousness was inexcusable. He briefly wondered who could possibly be cruel enough to say that to someone -_ to N_ - before discarding the thought. Because who it had been wasn't important. What mattered was making N feel better.

"That's not true. You definitely have emotions. You're always nice, but you don't really realize that what you're doing is kind, which makes it even kinder. You try to hide when you're amused or embarrassed, but it's clear when you are." Touya was fully aware of the fact that he was heading into rambling territory, but he figured that now was probably the best possible moment to say more than usual. "And when you explain things, you do it so that the other person doesn't feel inferior. You look out for other people. That's why I..." Realizing that he didn't know what he was about to say, Touya stopped speaking for a second, scrambling for a way to complete the sentence he'd left hanging. "That's part of why I like you."

That certainly ranked highly on the list of most embarrassing things that he'd ever said, but if it made N feel better, then it would be completely worth it.

"... I've never been told that before," N finally said, sounding shocked. While 'that' could refer to all or only part of the massive amount of words that Touya had spoken, he had the depressing feeling that it was probably the former.

To never be told that one was liked was something that Touya couldn't imagine.

"How do you tell when I'm amused?" N asked after a moment, sounding curious and far more like himself. Touya was incredibly relieved by the fact that N seemed to be feeling better; in fact, Touya realized that N was no longer shaking.

"Even if you don't smile, your mouth quirks up just a little, and when you're about to laugh but try not to, your eyes look... glittery."

That was quite possibly the worst description Touya had ever given of something, ever.

"'Glittery'?" N clearly found Touya's word choice hilarious.

"... Yes." He couldn't help but sound somewhat indignant. Evidently, N only thought that his tone of voice made things funnier, because he started laughing.

Touya didn't even know what to do at first because N was finally laughing and Touya had been the cause of it and it was all a little overwhelming. Touya smiled, and something in his chest fluttered. It was a sensation he'd felt before, but only around N.

After a few seconds, N's laughter naturally died down. Touya wondered why hearing N laugh made him feel so incredibly happy. He'd obviously heard people laugh before, and the feeling he had upon hearing others laugh was nowhere near similar to what he'd felt when N had laughed.

The confusing thing was, he couldn't even chalk it up to the fact that N's laugh was more special than usual because he didn't laugh much to begin with. Because his sense of humour was odd, Cheren almost never laughed - and when he did, it was often unexpected. And yet Touya never started smiling or felt _fluttery_ or anything like that when Cheren laughed.

Regardless of why he was so affected, he'd made N laugh and quite possibly helped lessen some baggage N had been carrying.

So as weird as it was to admit it, Touya decided that getting stuck in an elevator with N was oddly productive and actually fairly pleasant.

* * *

**A/N:** Let me start off by saying that N's aversion to dark spaces is a this-fic-only thing, as I doubt it's actually canon. The reason for this is because of the changes in N's past that have occurred by nature of this fic being AU. And, yes, some of these changes will later be addressed.

When N mentions that he's never been told any of the nice things that Touya said to him, he means that he's never been told that by another human. I imagine that at least Zorua's told N that he likes him.

The reason that the back-up generators aren't working is because, due to lack of use, the gas and oil have congealed and clogged the generators. N is understandably annoyed, because the gas and oil shouldn't have been put in there to begin with since the generators weren't going to be used for a while.


	22. A Game of Questions

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 20: A Game of Questions -**

A few minutes passed in fairly peaceful silence. Touya was content with continuing to pass the time in this manner, but he had a feeling that N might get bored - the last time they'd been in an elevator, despite the fact that the ride had only lasted two minutes at the most, it hadn't taken long for N to start absently tapping his fingers, presumably for want of something to do.

Though, truth be told, Touya was getting a little bored himself. But he didn't really know what they could do - other than talk, that is, but Touya was consistently terrible at starting conversations - so he posed a more general question. "Do you, um, want to do something?" Touya tried not to bemoan the fact that essentially anything that came out of his mouth sounded supremely awkward.

"Did you have anything particular in mind?" N asked curiously. Touya thought for a moment, but he still couldn't come up with anything specific.

"Not really."

N replied a few seconds later. "I would like to learn more about you, so my suggestion is to play a game of sorts. We would take turns asking each other questions, with the condition that one can always refuse to answer a question without stating a reason."

Touya was still too busy dealing with N's first sentence to answer immediately. He was weirdly happy that N wanted to learn about him; since Touya didn't really think of himself as interesting, he'd thought that the interest was only one-way.

The 'game' - though it was really more of a question and answer sort of deal that an actual game - was definitely something that Touya was willing to do. Though he usually balked at the idea of answering personal questions, he knew that if N was the one asking them, then he wouldn't have a problem with it.

And the benefits almost assuredly outweighed any discomfort that a question could potentially cause. Touya was dying to know more about N, and this game seemed like a fairly good way to go about it.

"Okay. Do you want to go first?" Touya asked, realizing that he didn't have a question in mind yet. He did have a few ideas, but he didn't think that it would be right to jump right into asking highly personal questions. Besides, the exchange of questions was N's idea, so he probably deserved to go first anyway.

"Alright." N paused, presumably to come up with a question. "When you were in school, what was your favourite subject?"

"History," Touya answered. Though he knew that the history taught in school was often extremely Unova-centric and nowhere near entirely true, he'd always found the subject intriguing. Even though he could have just left his answer at that, he felt like he should elaborate, even if only a little - he wanted N to know more about him. "I think it's interesting learning about people."

And history was really just the sum of humanity's accomplishments and mistakes.

Touya didn't even need to ask what N's favourite subjects were or even why, considering that N had already explained a while ago why he liked math and science. What to ask, then?

Suddenly, the multitude of book piles that N had lying around his room came to mind. While he already knew some of the types of books that N read, he didn't know if N had a favourite genre or anything like that - or if he even read fiction.

"Do you have a favourite book?"

"No. With the number of books I've read, it would be impossible to single one out as a favourite." It wasn't a boast; N was simply stating a fact. But Touya kind of understood where he was coming from. He'd have trouble picking a favourite book if someone asked him, and he'd read nowhere near as much as N had. "But if I were to choose a favourite type of book, it would be books on either mathematics or human behaviour."

The first topic was something that Touya had seen coming from a mile away, but the last one was completely unexpected.

"Why behaviour?" The question was out of his mouth before he realized that it was technically N's turn to ask a question, not his. Perhaps because it was obviously connected to the previous question, N didn't seem to mind.

"Learning about how people react to certain situations is interesting, but it can also be useful. Social skills do not come naturally to me - when I was younger, I sometimes offended people by accident. It was through observing others and reading that I learned how best to act."

Considering that N was one of the more polite people Touya knew, it was a bit of a surprise to learn that he'd had trouble as a child with offending people. But the fact that N had obviously done a lot in order to counteract this problem spoke to his personality. Cheren had the same issue, and yet he rarely cared if his words hurt someone, so he'd never tried to do anything about it.

So even if Touya thought it was kind of unusual to have to make a conscious effort to learn basic social skills, it didn't change his feelings towards N in any way. It wasn't really N's fault to begin with, and he was obviously trying. Besides, Touya had already accepted by this point that N was a little weird, so it didn't really bother him.

Touya wondered what N was going to ask next. N had revealed more information than Touya'd thought his simple question would elicit, so he thought that it might be a slightly more in-depth question.

"What is your favourite colour?"

Touya had to admit that that wasn't really what he'd been expecting.

"Blue." It had been his favourite for as long as he could remember. Touko used to tease him that the only reason he'd picked Oshawott was because he was blue - which was untrue and rather hypocritical of her, given that her favourite colour was red and she'd ended up with Tepig.

He would have liked to elaborate further, but there wasn't really any reason behind blue being his favourite colour. It just _was_.

"Do you have a favourite colour?" Touya asked. N had said before that he didn't pay much attention to aesthetics, so Touya figured that it was at least slightly possible that he wouldn't have a favourite colour. But, on the other hand, almost everyone had a favourite colour, right?

"Grey, I think," N said, sounding as if he hadn't given it much thought before. "White can be too sterile, and black too dark. Grey is a fair compromise."

That of course didn't explain why N's favourite colour was a neutral one, but Touya still thought that the choice was interesting, even without knowing the reasoning behind it. Now that he really thought about it, a great deal of N's wardrobe seemed to consist of white, black, and grey.

Touya thought that neutral colours seemed to fit N very well. He'd heard before that white very rarely looked good on someone with pale skin - Touko sometimes watched fashion-related shows on TV when she was bored, and Touya occasionally got sucked in - but for N, that wasn't true at all.

All the white and black actually seemed to make the pops of colour, like N's hair, more striking. Touya didn't know if it was exactly appropriate to continue thinking about N's appearance, especially since he'd already dwelled on it at least once before, but it was just really... unique, for lack of a better word. Touya didn't know how he felt about the fact that he knew that, if the lights were on, he'd probably be staring at N right now.

Not because Touya thought that N was attractive, because that definitely hadn't been what he'd been thinking a second ago and, wow, someone needed to put a stop to this thought process_ right now_.

Because the universe was not completely cruel, N chose that moment to ask his next question, thereby pulling Touya out of his thoughts. "Have you always lived in Castelia?"

The question took Touya by surprise - it was weird to think that he hadn't yet told N about how he'd been forced to come to the city. It was such a huge change that Touya had had to make, but there just hadn't been an opportunity for it to come up in conversation.

He didn't suppose that there'd been anything to indicate that he hadn't been living in Castelia for long, either. N knew that he couldn't navigate the city well, but that was less because the city was unfamiliar and more because Touya had a terrible sense of direction.

Touya shook his head before he realized that, obviously, N wouldn't be able to see the movement. "No. Touko and I had to move here a couple of weeks ago to work in one of the factories." Touya remembered back to when he'd first entered the city. Even though his work was incredibly boring, so much had been going on outside of it that time had almost flown by. "Actually, the night I first saw you was my first night in Castelia."

"It seems like you had an eventful first day in the city, then," N remarked. He almost sounded teasing, and Touya realized that this was the closest he'd seen N come to making a joke.

"Yeah," Touya replied, smiling a little self-consciously. Stumbling upon an illegal Pokemon battle _was _pretty bad as far as luck went. In retrospect, though, he was really glad that he'd mistaken the Team Plasma building for the building he'd been looking for. "It, um, wasn't really what I was expecting... but I wouldn't have met you otherwise."

Touya felt like he had to ask a question, stat, so that he could cover up how that had sounded.

He was tempted to copy N's question, but he didn't want to keep on emulating what N was asking him. It occurred to him that maybe now would be okay to ask about the person who'd led Team Plasma before N.

After all, if he was going to ask it eventually, then why put off the question any longer? Since waiting would only cause him to grow more nervous, it was probably better to go ahead and ask it before he managed to talk himself out of it.

Besides, he wouldn't even have considered asking about the person who'd come before N if he thought that he'd upset him. If N didn't want to answer, then he could simply say so, and Touya would let the matter drop. Not hurting N was more important than satisfying his curiosity.

"N," Touya began somewhat tentatively, "who was Team Plasma's former leader?"

Touya could feel N freeze, but for such a brief moment that Touya thought that he might have imagined it. Whole seconds passed before N answered.

"My father."

* * *

**A/N:** They'll be getting out the elevator soon, I promise. It's just taking longer than I thought it would. ^^;

This is completely irrelevant to the story, but when I was writing the paragraph where Touya mentions fashion shows, I had this image of him and Touko camped out on their couch at home watching a Project Runway marathon, with both of them using boredom as an excuse even though they secretly like the show.


	23. The Past

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 21: The Past -**

Touya was shocked. From what N had described of Team Plasma's former leader, it seemed like the two were radically different from each other. So to find out that they were directly related to each other was almost unbelievable.

Although it would explain how N had managed to take control of Team Plasma at such a young age - being the former leader's son might have given him part of the authority to do so.

N paused; whether to let his words sink in or to figure out what to say next, Touya wasn't sure. "We were not biologically related, but he raised me since I was very young. I can't remember a time where I did not live in this building."

Silence hung heavy in the air. Touya was very tempted to break it and diffuse some of the tension that had crept its way in, but he had the sense that N wasn't done speaking.

"I told you before that Ghetsis - my father - vanished one day without a reason. But that is only partially true. I discovered the reason for his disappearance soon after he went missing. He was at the pier overseeing the loading of a shipment of the Pokemon he had worked to train. Though the details are vague, I believe that someone must have tipped off the police, who moved in and arrested all of those involved. Very few members of Team Plasma are aware of this information - or of the fact that all who were arrested were later executed."

Touya wasn't sure why N hadn't told the entirety of Team Plasma the full story, but he must have had his reasons. And he'd told Touya, which was a show of trust that he was definitely grateful for.

Touya didn't know what to say. Though Ghetsis obviously hadn't been a good person, he had still raised N, which had to count for something. N hadn't mentioned another parent, either, which meant that the chances were high that Ghetsis had been his only parent.

So even though, in the grand scheme of things, Ghetsis' arrest had probably been for the best, Touya was still sorry that it had happened, if only because it had likely hurt N.

"I'm sorry," he said. Without thinking, he reached for N's hand, somehow managing to keep the awkward fumbling in the dark to a minimum before he enclosed N's hand within his own. Touya wasn't really sure why he did it, but N's hand felt nice, and when N squeezed his hand in return instead of pulling away, something inside Touya just felt _warm_.

"Thank you," N replied. "I might not have liked him... but I could never hate him."

There was a moment of silence - respectful coming from Touya; from N, contemplative.

"What was your life like before moving to Castelia?"

"Normal," Touya answered almost immediately, saying the first word that came to mind. "Touko and I both went to school, and my mom worked - works - at a shop in Accumula. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary."

He could have mentioned that his father was dead, but he wasn't really sure that that would be a good idea. Not because he didn't want to talk about his father's death, but because he didn't want to make N feel awkward about it.

Besides, his statement was still pretty much true. With the war going on, it wasn't uncommon to come across someone who'd lost a family member in one of the many battles that had taken place.

Mentioning school had reminded Touya of something - he couldn't remember N ever mentioning anything about having gone to school. Theoretically, it should be impossible for someone to avoid attending school. Attendance was mandatory; except, of course, when the government decided that a teenager was more useful working than studying.

Touya knew what his next question was going to be.

"Did you go to school?"

"No. I often wished that I had been able to attend, but Ghetsis did not allow me to leave the building. I spent most of my free time learning about the subjects I had an interest in."

Well, that was surprising on multiple levels.

For one, N was probably the smartest person he knew. Though he was fully aware of the fact that a person could know a great deal without having gone to school - most of what Cheren knew consisted of things he hadn't been taught, for instance - it was still weird to think that N knew so much without having ever set foot in a classroom.

And some things seemed to Touya nearly impossible to learn on one's own. He personally had a difficult enough time learning math when he was being taught by someone who presumably knew what they were doing, so for N to teach himself was impressive.

He felt bad for N for never having gone to school. Though it wasn't as if Touya had appreciated the homework or hearing about things he found boring, he had still learned a great deal. And without school, he'd probably be even shyer than he was now.

He also thought that it was odd how Ghetsis hadn't allowed N to go outside. Touya would have understood not wanting to let a child roam around a city as large as Castelia alone, but it seemed like venturing outside had been banned no matter what the circumstances.

"Once your work at the factory ends," N asked, "what do you plan on doing?"

"I'm not sure yet," Touya responded, feeling like he should have at least some sort of concrete answer. But he really hadn't thought at all about what sort of job he wanted to hold after he fulfilled his required amount of work. "I'd want to visit Nuvema, but after that... I don't know."

He couldn't even be sure of when he'd be released from his drafted job. Technically, it was only supposed to last two years, but with more people going off to war and more supplies needing to be produced, that length of time was no longer set in stone. And even if Touya were freed, chances were high that he'd simply be drafted into the army afterwards.

So speculating was rather premature and probably pointless. That didn't make his answer any less unsatisfactory, however.

He couldn't think of anything more to say on the matter, so he tried coming up with a question for N. Luckily for him, one came to him fairly quickly.

"Where did you meet Zorua?" Most people got their Pokemon from a licensed breeder, but Touya thought that N had might have met Zorua somewhere else. He wasn't sure if Zorua had been wild, but the Pokemon that were available through breeders to the general public were fairly limited, and Touya had never seen another member of Zorua's species before.

Since wild Pokemon couldn't be caught, they had to be befriended. But with the government's strict protection of cities and towns from wild Pokemon, it was difficult even to meet a wild Pokemon, let alone actually become friendly enough with one so that it would want to live with a person.

Even though wild Pokemon were barred from cities, as long as a person applied for a limiter and filled out the proper paperwork registering their Pokemon, it was still legal to own a once-wild Pokemon. Touya thought that maybe it was allowed because the situation was so unlikely anyway, and that tracking down any potential offenders would be extremely difficult.

"He was pacing in front of the building, looking confused - he had managed to enter the city despite its protections against wild Pokemon, but once in, became overwhelmed and trapped. When I noticed that he wasn't wearing a limiter, I ran down to the first floor and called to him from the doorway."

Touya spent a split second wondering why N hadn't just gone outside before the answer hit him - he probably hadn't been able to go outside, which placed the story at at least five years ago, if not more.

"After two days, I asked him if he'd like to return to outside of the city. He... he said that he would rather stay with me."

That was a really sweet story, actually. Touya had almost been expecting it to be completely different, like that Zorua had once been abused or something, mainly because it would have fit in with the depressing tone that a lot of N's stories seemed to have.

"How did you meet Oshawott?" N asked. Touya noticed that he really did sound as if he were interested in knowing the answer - it was the way N had sounded for all of his previous questions, too.

"I went with Touko and my mom to see a breeder," Touya explained. "Touko started playing with the Pokemon right away, but... I was really nervous, so I held back. But Oshawott came over to me, and when I sat down to pet him, he climbed into my lap." Touya smiled at the memory. Personality wise, he and Oshawott were pretty much opposites. But that could be why they got along so well.

Touya felt like he was starting to run out of questions, a generous statement which assumed that he hadn't already. While he'd probably be interested in anything N had to say about, well, _anything_, he wanted to get the most out of his questions.

"When you're not busy, what do you do?" Touya considered tacking on 'besides reading', because he was really curious to know whether or not N had hobbies that weren't related to books, but figured that N would probably mention other things.

"Most of my free time is spent reading," N admitted. "But I also like to play games, such as chess."

Touya had to admit that N was exactly the kind of person who would enjoy chess. Personally, he actually kind of liked the game as long as it didn't drag on and on and he wasn't playing Cheren. The latter condition was kind of ironic, given that Cheren had been the one to teach him how to play. Though it had really been less teaching and more plopping a chessboard in front of him, rapidly explaining the basic rules, and then starting the game before Touya could voice an objection.

... Cheren had been especially bored that day, if Touya recalled correctly.

"Who do you play?" Again, this second question was a violation of the game, but Touya wanted to know and he figured that N probably wouldn't mind.

"Either a computer program or myself," N answered. "As a computer's thought process is very different than that of a human's, I prefer to play actual people, but the opportunity does not present itself very often."

Touya thought that, even though N would probably beat him in record time, it might be nice to have a chess match with him. Touya didn't like playing with Cheren because Cheren thought that it was entertaining to wreck his opponent completely before checkmating them - instead of simply moving into a game-resolving position, Cheren would take every single piece except the king, and then and only then would he end the game. Touya had the feeling that N would have a different and less sadistic playing style.

N somewhat hesitantly asked his next question.

"Have you ever been in love before?"

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, they're definitely getting out the elevator. Really.

I figured I'd mention that when Ghetsis was arrested, there wasn't anything on him related to Team Plasma, which is why the organization was never discovered. The reason why N never told the majority of Team Plasma what happened is that he didn't want to discourage the members who weren't aware of Ghetsis' secret dealings.


	24. Fall

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 22: Fall -**

Touya's mind went completely and utterly blank for a moment before pulling itself back together, doing what essentially amounted to a reboot.

Obviously there was some sort of reason that N was asking - the question hadn't just magically appeared out of nowhere - but was there a deeper meaning behind it? More to the point, did Touya _want _there to be a deeper meaning?

"Um," he said, because that was as eloquent as he was going to be right now. He took a deep breath and focused on answering the question instead of freaking out.

"No," he answered, a little annoyed at the fact that his voice sounded oddly shaky. After a second, he asked, "Um, why do you ask?" He sounded way too interested in hearing N's answer, and he couldn't even figure out why.

"I've never been in love, either. I was... I only asked because I wished to know what it felt like. So that I would be able to tell if it happened."

At what was actually a fairly reasonable explanation, Touya's heartbeat stopped racing and slowed to merely beating faster than usual. N didn't seem like he was good with his emotions, so it made sense that he'd think that he wouldn't be able to recognize if he fell in love with someone.

Touya was certainly in no position to explain anything remotely related to love, but he was going to try. "I think people can tell when they realize that they really like the other person, and that they'd rather spend their time with that person than with anyone else, and they end up thinking about that person when they'd usually be thinking about other things, and they put that person's happiness above their own." Touya intentionally neglected to mention that realizations of love were usually accompanied by physical attraction, mainly because that seemed like an oddly inappropriate fact to tell to the person he was currently holding hands with. He then went over what he'd just said and froze.

He liked N. No, correction - he really liked N.

He had been prioritizing meeting up with N over basically everything else.

He often thought about N when there was absolutely no reason for him to do so.

He liked seeing N happy, especially when he smiled or laughed.

But that couldn't - it didn't - mean that he loved N. Because... because...?

Because having what might or might not be a life-changing epiphany in a currently inescapable elevator next to the person it concerned was not something that he could deal with at the moment, that's why. He tried to ignore the issue, but after it rapidly became clear that that was impossible, he settled for just trying to calm down.

"That's very helpful," N said, sounding a little surprised - probably at how much Touya had said, or at the fact that he'd actually said something useful even though he had no personal experience with the subject.

Then, something else occurred to Touya. Was there another reason that N wanted to know how to tell if he was in love with someone? It could just be that he'd never had the opportunity to ask someone about it before. Ghetsis didn't seem like the type to have entertained a child's questions about love, and since N hadn't been able to go outside for a while and probably didn't have much of an interest in romance stories, it wasn't inconceivable that he had even less exposure to the topic than Touya did.

Or it could be that N suspected that he was in love with someone. Touya wasn't really a big fan of that idea, though, for reasons that he decided would be best to file away in the 'things to deal with later' section of his mind that he'd recently created. In a blatant disregard of his wishes, a thought passed through his head -

If N was in love withhim, and not someone else, then Touya would have absolutely no problem with that. In fact, the thought was actually kind of thrilling, in a kind of nerve-wracking sort of way because what the hell was he thinking?

Now was absolutely not the time for this, so he tried grasping at any non-love related thoughts to grab inspiration for his next question. Before his lack of a question had the opportunity to become a problem, the lights burst on, immediately throwing Touya from being virtually blind to being ... virtually blind. Just with the lights on this time.

The elevator jolted upward, and despite the fact that Touya was sitting down and should probably have been at least somewhat balanced, he couldn't help but jump a little when the elevator resumed its ascent. Unfortunately, this jump combined with the rapid and unexpected movement of the elevator resulted in him toppling over.

Or, to be more specific, toppling over_ onto N._

He didn't have enough brain power to spare to wonder why the universe was so unbelievably cruel because his mind was currently focused on the fact that he was halfway in N's lap.

Compounding the embarrassing nature of the situation was that when Touya had fallen over, N had instinctively reached out an arm to catch his head - with the result that his hand was now tangled in Touya's hair. This really shouldn't have been a major distraction, but it was a strangely pleasant sensation and one that Touya was doing his best to ignore.

By now, the blindness caused by the sudden reappearance of the elevator's bright, fluorescent lights had faded. Unsure as to why neither he nor N was moving, Touya glanced upwards and saw N looking down at him, looking extremely surprised, which was in all fairness a perfectly appropriate reaction to this sort of thing.

Touya could feel himself blushing, and given N's pale complexion it was fairly obvious that he was doing he same. He had the thought that there wasn't much space between their heads. That if they - for some inexplicable and unknown reason, of course - wanted to close the gap, it would be quite easy to do so.

... That was when Touya gave up trying to convince himself that he wasn't thinking about the possibility of kissing N. The fact that full seconds - which seemed more like snippets of eternity - had passed and neither of them had moved did absolutely nothing to help stop that train of thought.

After another second, N lowered his head; but only slightly, stopping almost immediately with widened eyes. Touya's heart began hammering before he'd even consciously registered what N had done.

Which was, he tried to tell himself, nothing. He'd just moved his head, with no ulterior motive or anything. Not that that was particularly convincing, but some shred of reason returned to Touya's rattled mind, and, seizing the opportunity, he scrambled out of his current position and returned to his former location, though he wasn't as close to N as he'd been before.

Touya's eyes met N's, and they looked at each other for a moment, saying nothing. Touya wasn't sure what had just happened, but he knew that whatever it was, it was important, and it was clear from N's expression that he felt the same.

Before either of them could say anything, the elevator came to a halt and opened its doors, revealing the twenty-seventh floor - the first wide open space that they'd seen in hours.

For a second, neither of them moved.

"I... I should, um, probably be going," Touya stammered, getting to his feet. N quickly did the same. "Touko might be worried."

"I understand." N looked a bit uncharacteristically lost before moving towards the elevator doors. "You'll be able to make it out on your own?" N asked, seeming like he wanted to accompany Touya downstairs like he usually did, but like he was unsure as to if that would be appropriate considering what had just transpired.

Touya nodded, and N stepped out of the elevator as Touya pressed the button for the ground floor. Until the doors closed, the tension of things unsaid - things that needed to be discussed - was almost palpable.

* * *

By the time Touya returned to the apartment building, it had grown quite late. Despite the late hour, however, most of the building's lights were on, perhaps to make up for the blackout its inhabitants had just been forced to deal with.

He quickly unlocked the door and started speed walking towards his room. He managed a grand total of two feet towards his goal before Touko jumped over the back of the couch and scrambled to block him.

"Hey, Cheren!" she called, projecting her voice down the hallway leading to the two bedrooms. "Touya's back!" After a second of silence, Touya heard a door slide open, and Cheren appeared, squinting his eyes. Touya guessed that he'd been staring at his laptop screen for the past few hours.

Now that Touya was effectively trapped, he gave up and prepared to explain himself. Before that, however, he had a question.

"Why are you still awake?" Touko always liked to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and sometimes even somewhat earlier. It was probably where she got all of her energy from, and why she was up and ready to go even when the sun was still coming up.

"We were worried about you," she said, trying to sound stern but instead coming off as relieved.

"I," Cheren clarified, "had insomnia."

Both were probably true, but Cheren wasn't ever going to admit to the first point.

"So, where were you?" Touko asked, looking unflinchingly at Touya. "You've never stayed out late before."

"I didn't mean to," he said, somewhat defensively. "I was in an elevator when the power went out."

"You're not hurt, are you?" Touko asked immediately, her nosiness temporarily swapped for concern. Touya shook his head, and something seemed to dawn on Touko. "... Why were you in an elevator?"

"I was visiting N."

"Oh," Touko said knowingly. She was grinning, which, as far Touya was concerned, meant nothing good. "What did you do the whole time?"

"Let's see. He spent hours trapped in a dark, small space with a person he seems to be _very_ interested in. I wonder what happened," Cheren remarked dryly, cutting in before Touya was able to respond. Touko brought her hand up to cover her mouth, but she wasn't terribly successful with hiding her laughter.

"We asked each other questions," Touya quickly explained before Touko made a comment of her own. Remembering what had happened towards the end, he started blushing, and this realization only made the problem worse.

"Like, personal questions?" Touko asked, extremely interested.

"... Yes," Touya answered hesitantly.

"That's so sweet!" Touya was pretty sure that if she knew how serious parts of he and N's conversation had gotten, then she wouldn't be so cheerful about proclaiming the whole thing to be 'sweet'. Still, Touya was really glad that N had suggested it. "One of you must have asked a question about love, am I right?"

From Touko's tone and grin, Touya could tell that she was just teasing him and wasn't actually expecting an affirmative answer. But her question had been a little too spot on, all things considered, and Touya's blush fled in favour of pale white. Touya was sure that he also looked slightly horrified.

"Wait a second," Touko said, noticing the change. "That actually happened?"

"No?" Touya offered weakly. For the first time since Cheren had started staying with them, Touya deeply regretted agreeing to let Cheren borrow his room. Instead of speeding off to a room that was actually his own, he had to beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom.

"Touya, you can't leave now!" Touko complained loudly from the living-room-slash-foyer, though she made no move to go after him. Touya could only hope that she'd forget about what had just occurred by tomorrow morning, and he'd be able to avoid answering further questions on the matter.

* * *

**A/N: **They're out of the elevator! 8D

The next chapter might be either a few days early or a few late. I'm leaving on Friday for a trip - if I can get the chapter done in time it'll be up Friday; if not, then it'll probably be a little late, because I don't think the first hotel I'll be at has Wi-Fi.

The chapter after the next chapter is going to be a side story for N. Though it's backstory, there will also most likely be another chapter from his perspective much later that occurs in the present.


	25. The Classroom

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 23: The Classroom -**

Touya woke up with a sore back and rigid limbs, which was essentially par for the course when one's bed was a government-provided couch. Oshawott was snuggled right up against his chin, and as he sat up he gingerly moved Oshawott to his lap.

He wasn't sure what time it was, but if Touko wasn't up yet then it was probably pretty early. He considered trying to go back to sleep, but he didn't want to still be sleeping once people started waking up, mainly because the couch would likely be in demand for seating and he ran the risk of being kicked off anyway. Possibly literally.

A little unsure as to what to do at the moment, Touya decided to go ahead and start getting ready to head out somewhere. Today was one of his days off, so he didn't actually _have_ to go anywhere, but he didn't like the idea of sticking around today - not when Touko was bound to have questions for him.

And even though he was still extremely flustered about yesterday, he did want to see N. He just wasn't sure that seeing N was what was best at that moment. He still wasn't completely sure that he was interpreting things correctly, and if he couldn't even be sure of how he felt, then he couldn't expect N to have sorted things out, either.

But he didn't want N to think that he was avoiding him because he didn't want to see him. Chances were that a little weirdness between them was going to be unavoidable, and Touya didn't want to make it any worse.

After getting ready, he began tidying up the couch. As he was folding the last of the blankets, he heard footsteps. He glanced up slowly, sort of hoping that it was Cheren but doubting that he'd ever wake up before Touko. It was, in fact, Touko, and by the time Touya had put the blanket away she'd plopped herself down on the couch. Seeing her expectant glance, Touya knew that he could either bolt out of the apartment or sit down.

With some reluctance, he took a seat. He didn't want to annoy her, and he couldn't flee the room forever. Though if it came to that, he _had_ strategically placed himself closer to the door.

"Are you going to see N today?" she asked casually. Unprepared for a question - he'd expected at least some form of 'good morning' - Touya had to rush to provide an answer. He still hadn't decided if visiting N today was a good idea or not.

"No," he replied, though he felt a twinge of regret. But it wasn't as if by saying no he'd set his entire day's schedule in stone; he could always change his mind later.

"So then that means you're fine with us having a conversation about what you said last night, right?" Touya was in no way, shape, or form prepared to have this conversation right now, so, no, that did not mean that he was fine with having it.

"... I'm going to see N," he said, picking up Oshawott. He was already closing the door by the time Touko got around to protesting.

* * *

Having successfully escaped the building, Touya was now deciding where he should go. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Touko that he was going to see N, but he didn't feel completely prepared to do it right at that moment.

He walked a little further, picking a direction at random. After a few minutes, though, he stopped, realizing that the buildings he was passing seemed awfully familiar. It didn't take long for him to figure out the reason - without being consciously aware of it, he'd started heading towards the Team Plasma building.

Wary of continuing on in that direction and cursing his subconscious, he looked down at Oshawott, who was currently intent on watching all of the passersby.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked. Oshawott nodded, and he pointed one paw towards the piers. Since it wasn't as if Touya had any better ideas - or any at all, for that matter - he walked towards the closest pier.

He sat down on one of the benches near the end of the pier, watching as Oshawott clambered out of his arms and onto the railing. He was a little worried that Oshawott might accidentally tumble off, but he seemed relatively balanced. Besides, being a water type, Oshawott was a great swimmer, so he'd be fine even if he did fall into the bay.

Oshawott seemed content to watch the waves lap at the pier, so Touya decided to stick around for a little while before moving on. He glanced around, but there wasn't anything very interesting going on - an unassuming boat was docked on the other side, and the pier's only other inhabitant was asleep, his back to the boat. Touya wondered if he was supposed to be doing something.

He felt like this pier was strangely familiar, which didn't make much sense until he remembered that this place was where he'd first sat down and spoken with N. It was a little exasperating that nearly everything he'd run across so far in Castelia reminded him of N, but it shouldn't really be that surprising. Other than going to and from work, the majority of his time spent wandering around the city thus far had either been with N or at least related to him.

Touya had the thought that maybe now might be a good time to try and sort some things out. He didn't have to come to any solid conclusions just yet, but he should probably figure out what to say to N. He'd never had to deal with this kind of thing before, and he would have felt awkward about asking anyone for advice.

Since he could only hope that N would bring up the topic himself, Touya knew that he had to have some sort of contingency plan just in case that didn't happen. While his usual way of dealing with embarrassing situations was to simply avoid them, he felt like doing so in this case would only make the situation weirder and harder to deal with later.

Was there ever a good way to approach this kind of conversation, though? Any form of 'we need to talk' sounded ominous and somewhat cliched, but Touya didn't really think that there was a subtle way of broaching the topic. And even there was, he'd probably never be able to come up with it.

Maybe just vaguely alluding to what had happened yesterday would be the best idea. That way, if N wasn't ready to talk about it, it wouldn't be that hard for him to brush it off, and the amount of associated awkwardness would be diminished.

Happy that he'd at least come to some sort of decision, Touya stood up and stretched, glancing over at Oshawott, who was still absorbed in wave-watching. Circling around just a little to avoid startling Oshawott, Touya gently grabbed him from the railing.

It took just under fifteen minutes for him to reach the Team Plasma building. As he waited, he thought about just how much he hoped that it wasn't N who came to open the door. It wasn't that he didn't want to see him, because he very much did, but he didn't think that he was mentally prepared yet for another elevator ride with him.

Luckily for Touya, the person who greeted him was a regular member of Team Plasma.

"Commander N is in an important meeting, so he'll be unable to meet with you today."

At first, Touya was worried that maybe N was avoiding him, but he quickly dismissed the idea, as it didn't seem like something he'd do. More likely than not, he really was just in a meeting.

The man looked at him expectedly, as if he were waiting for a response. Touya's initial thought had been to acknowledge that he'd heard what the man had said and then leave, but he reconsidered, thinking that it might be a good idea to stick around.

Even if he couldn't see N, he was still a member of Team Plasma, so he needed to be attending at least two battle-related classes a week. Since both he and Oshawott were already here, it wouldn't hurt to at least ask if there were any sessions going on or about to start.

"Can I go to one of the battle classes?"

The man glanced at him, seemingly surprised, before he appeared to remember something. "Oh, that's right - you're a member, aren't you?" It was clearly a rhetorical question, so Touya waited for him to continue, squirming a little under the scrutiny. He hadn't really thought about it before, but he supposed that it made sense that N had told other people that he'd joined. He couldn't help but wonder if N had mentioned anything else about him. "Do you know which level you're in?"

"The most basic," Touya ventured, seeing as he'd only had one battle.

"That'd be the beginner's class." The man thought for a moment, then looked briefly back at the elevator. "Alright. Come with me."

Touya quickly followed the man into the now-open elevator. He was a little curious if he'd be going to a floor he'd already been to, like the battlefield floor, or if it would be a new one. The number of the button that had been pressed wasn't familiar, but since the only floor number he could remember was N's, that didn't mean much of anything.

Being only the seventh floor, it didn't take terribly long for the elevator to arrive at its destination. Instead of the sprawling expanse of an arena, the doors revealed a long hallway spotted equidistantly with doors.

He was led to a door near the end of the hall. The man opened the door and gently nudged Touya inside. "You've got a late arrival," he said, looking at a woman at the front of the room. His task completed, the man left Touya alone in the stranger-filled room.

The room that he'd been rather unceremoniously dumped into looked to be a classroom. There were a multitude of desks, each with its own chair and most with a person in it. There was a white board at the front, as well as a currently unused projector hanging from the ceiling.

The people sitting at the desks all looked to be older than he was; some by only a few years, others by decades. It gave him a strange feeling - being in a classroom felt familiar, but the sea of older and unknown faces made the whole situation somewhat strange.

Touya shifted a little uncomfortably, waiting for some sort of direction. He glanced at the woman the man had talked to, who was presumably the class' teacher. She looked to be trying to figure out who he was.

"Are you a new recruit?" she asked, and Touya nodded in response. "How much battle experience do you have?"

"Um," Touya began, convinced that his lack of experience was going to seem rather pathetic in comparison to other members of the class and therefore a little embarrassed, "one battle. With N." Any people chatting immediately hushed, and Touya could see looks of surprise on their faces.

He wondered if it was because battling with N was surprising in and of itself, but it occurred to him that maybe it was because he hadn't used a title when referring to N - to him, N was N, but to many, if not all, of Team Plasma's other members, N was _Commander_ N.

"So you're the one I've been hearing about," the teacher remarked, sounding curious. "What's your name again?" Seeing as he hadn't told her his name yet and she seemed to be at least somewhat familiar with him, Touya guessed that she'd probably heard his name before.

He could understand himself being the topic of conversation maybe once, like when he was admitted to Team Plasma, but it sounded like he'd been mentioned on multiple occasions - though whether by N or someone else, he didn't know.

It could be that people were talking about him and N. It didn't seem like N had any friends besides Zorua, so maybe it was simply the novelty and unexpectedness of the situation that made it worth talking about. Touya hoped that it was only facts that were circulating and not gossip or rumours.

On second thought, though, some of the facts were rather incriminating, weren't they? Touya wondered just how much everyone knew about him and N.

"Touya," he answered. He didn't like standing in front of the class, and he wished that the woman would let him sit down.

"That's right," she said, and something in her expression told Touya that his name had definitely sounded familiar. "Even if your one battle was with Commander N, you're still inexperienced, so you've come to the right class. Please, take a seat; you haven't missed much."

Touya quickly scanned the room, taking in all three of the empty seats and their locations. They weren't next to each other, so he'd have to sit next to someone regardless of the seat he chose. Unwilling to spend any more time at the front than he had to, he picked a seat at random.

Sitting down and setting Oshawott on the desk, he looked up, ready for the class to resume.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm really sorry about this chapter being late. It was on track to be early, but the Thursday before I left was terrible for multiple reasons so I wasn't able to finish. There weren't computers at the hotels like I was expecting, and I couldn't upload anything from my iPod, so I had to wait until I got back.

Apologies to the people who've reviewed recently - I haven't been able to respond to reviews lately, but I'll try and get to them later tonight or tomorrow.

On the plus side, there will be an update this Sunday, thus returning the fic to its normal update schedule.


	26. Side Story: N

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Side Story: Cipher -**

N was sitting on his bed, propping up a book larger than his head on his knees. Zorua was half-dozing at his feet, moving occasionally only to stretch or yawn. Just as N was about to turn the page, he heard a knock at the door to his room. Shutting the book and placing it gently off to the side, he opened the door.

Standing in front of him was a somewhat frantic-looking woman who seemed surprised at N's prompt response to her knocking. He blinked up at her while he waited for her to start speaking; in the mean time, Zorua wandered over to sit by his feet.

"One of the computers in my department stopped working," she said, speaking quickly, "And our tech guy isn't here and Ghetsis is coming by soon for an evaluation and will you please try and fix it?"

N nodded. He was used to people asking him to do things, and he liked helping people. Besides, assuming that there wasn't anything severely wrong with the computer, he should be able to solve the problem within a few minutes.

He didn't have a special interest in computers, but he understood a great deal about them because, as machines, they made sense - cut one wire, one thing would happen; cut another wire, another thing would happen. Cause and effect, easy to follow and just as easy to predict.

But regardless of the problem, he was always happy whenever someone would ask for his help. Not because he liked people feeling indebted to him - in fact, it confused him when someone tried to pay him back for something he'd done simply because he'd wanted to - but because it meant that the person asking for help saw his knowledge as useful, not unnerving.

He couldn't always read people well, but he'd gotten good at being able to tell when someone found him odd.

He followed the woman up the stairs, Zorua hanging onto his shoulder. After two flights, she stopped and opened the stairwell door, walking until she reached a large room filled with desks and computers.

It was easy to tell which Team Plasma members were new and which had been around for at least a month by the way they reacted to N's entrance. The more experienced members looked relieved, while the new recruits just looked confused at the appearance of a nine-year-old.

"I got him," the woman declared proudly, her job evidently done. A man stood up from a nearby chair and gestured towards the computer, whose screen was currently black.

"This computer is what's having problems," the man explained. "It turns on for a second, but then turns right back off." He pressed the power button to demonstrate; the computer did exactly as he'd described. "I already checked that it's getting the right amount of power, and the power button isn't sticking or anything like that."

"Have you looked inside of the modem?" N asked, calmly moving closer to the computer. Zorua hopped off of his place on N's shoulder, parking himself by the modem.

The man shook his head. "No, we thought it was some kind of power issue."

"It could be," N conceded, "but more likely, it's an electrical short." He knelt down and crawled under the desk, carefully feeling around until he found where the computer was plugged into the wall. As he pulled out the plug and set it aside, he heard some of the people in the room begin talking about him.

"Who's the kid?" someone asked from a couple of metres away.

"He's Ghetsis' son," another person explained. "I mean, not really, but Ghetsis adopted him, so..."

N shook the modem. He heard a faint rattling from inside, which reinforced his suspicion that a short was the problem - in all likelihood, an internal screw had gotten loose, which had messed up the very delicate electrical connections within the case.

"He seems pretty smart," another newcomer remarked. "And nice, if he's willing to fix a computer."

"So, not like Ghetsis at all, you mean." The joke was met by a combination of hesitant laughter and quietly uttered 'keep it down!'s.

"He seems kind of weird, though. He wasn't even smiling, and his voice's just... flat. I mean, I don't think you can be that smart as a kid and not have something wrong with you, right?"

N crawled out from the desk and turned to the man who'd explained what was going on. He asked if there was a screwdriver nearby, and the man obligingly located one. N returned to his position under the desk and by the modem.

"He's not weird," someone said, and N recognized the voice as belonging to the woman who'd led him here. He knew intuitively that eavesdropping was rude, but what people said when they weren't aware that someone else could hear them was sometimes very interesting.

Though if N were being honest with himself, he'd also admit that it could be hurtful as well.

He wasn't sure why people talked about him even when he was in the room. He guessed that it might have something to do with his age. For some reason, even if an adult knew that a child was smart, sometimes something still didn't click and they talked as if he couldn't comprehend what they were saying.

He supposed that it could also be that they figured that he wasn't paying attention to what they were saying, seeing as he was currently occupied. But multitasking was always a strength of his; even if it weren't, what he was doing wasn't terribly complex, which left room for his attention to stray.

"Sure, he's not... normal, I guess," the woman continued, and N was a little confused because she had just contradicted herself, which he'd learned was not a very good tactic when trying to make a point. "But he's very sweet and just because he's smarter than you are doesn't mean you should call him weird."

Silence reigned for a couple of seconds. N thought that maybe the other person was offended, but he didn't understand why. The statistical probability of N being smarter than the man who'd insulted him was very high, which meant that the woman's statement was likely true.

And truth was better than lies, because truth was based on facts, and facts made sense. And as far as N was concerned, making sense was one of the best things that anything could do.

Just as N was unscrewing the modem's cover, the silence was broken by laughter, though presumably not from the person whom the woman had been speaking to. There was no retort, though whether it was muttered so lowly that N couldn't hear it from his location or because one simply wasn't uttered, N didn't know.

Having since removed the outer casing, N slowly pushed the modem out from under the desk and into the light so that he could get a better look at it. Less than a minute later, he located the loose screw and tightened it. He reattached the casing and rattled the modem again - no sounds came from within.

Putting the power cable's plug back into the socket, he removed himself from beneath the desk and pressed the power button. The computer turned on and began the booting up process, and it became clear very quickly that the problem had been solved.

"Thanks!" The woman from before came over to him and patted him on the head. N understood it to be a gesture generally reserved for children, and it didn't bother him. "You're a life saver."

It took him a split second to realize that he wasn't a _literal _life saver, and that the woman was merely being metaphorical.

"You're welcome," he replied, gathering up Zorua in his arms in preparation to leave. He turned towards the door but heard a strained grunt from behind him, so he looked back. The woman had tackled the man N had been talking to earlier into a hug, and if N's guess was correct, she looked a combination of relieved and overjoyed.

As N was not well-versed in the intricacies of glomping, he stood there for a moment, watching with a vague if slightly perplexed feeling of interest. The two quickly separated, but then the woman took the man's hand.

And now N was confused. There wasn't a reason for her to have done that. The man was not being led anywhere, and there was nothing that the woman was saving him from.

Evidently, the woman noticed him staring. "What is it?" she asked.

N cocked his head to the side, as if the slightly altered vantage point would usher in a moment of clarity about what was going on. "Why are you holding his hand?" he asked eventually, slowly and in a manner that belied his confusion.

The woman blinked like she hadn't been expecting that particular question. Then, she smiled. "It's because we're dating," she informed N cheerfully. The man looked a little embarrassed, but he looked like he was trying to hide a smile. "I love him."

"You're holding hands because you love him," N reiterated, trying to understand.

"Right. Holding hands is a way that I can show him how much I love him." N noticed that the other people in the room seemed either amused or befuddled by the conversation that was occurring.

N considered her point, deciding that it made sense. Most humans were very tactile by nature, so showing affection by holding hands was something that he supposed was a natural extension of that. He didn't think that anyone would ever want to hold his hand, though.

He almost succeeded in convincing himself that the thought didn't bother him.

"Thank you for explaining," he said, very politely, before exiting through the nearby door and into the hallway. Instead of returning to his room, he decided to head to the library. Since it was located only a few floors up, he chose to take the stairs.

As he was passing by the door to one of the floor's, N stopped, listening. He thought he'd heard a sound, but he couldn't tell what it had been. The door had stuck open, and N wandered through the doorway to investigate.

He heard the noise again. This time, it sounded like a yelp or a growl. Immediately more alert than he had been before, he headed to where he thought the sound had come from. He stood in front of a door, and a quick check revealed it to be locked tight.

N took stock of his surroundings for the first time since he'd entered the floor, realizing that he was on the floor that Ghetsis used for work. His office, as well several file rooms - some locked, some open to all members - and one of many communication rooms, was located on this floor.

N was definitely curious and perhaps slightly worried about what could possibly be behind the door. He stuck around for a few minutes, alternating between jiggling the doorknob and listening for any further sounds.

None came, and so he gave up for the moment and continued his trek to the library.

* * *

The next morning, N grabbed a book, considered the length of time he'd be spending away from his room, and took another for good measure. Zorua quickly climbed onto his shoulder, and he set out into the hallway and up the stairs until he reached the floor with Ghetsis' office.

He located the locked door from yesterday and sat down in front of it. If someone were to open it, then he'd obviously be able to figure out what was inside just from that. But even if nobody came by to open it, he'd be able to ask people who were walking by. People who had business on this floor very likely had a higher chance of knowing what was behind the mysterious door.

Since the floor did contain several file rooms, it received a fair but not outrageous amount of traffic. As the time approached a slightly more reasonable hour of the morning, people started trickling in. Spotting someone about to walk past, N sprang up from his spot. The person stopped and turned to face him.

"Could you tell me what this room contains?" N asked, gesturing towards the door. The man he'd stopped looked thoughtful.

"Sorry," he said after a moment, "I'm not really sure. It's always locked, isn't it?" N nodded. "Well, good luck finding out what's behind there."

As the man wandered off to do whatever he'd come to the floor to accomplish, N thought about how it was interesting that people always wished each other good luck when there wasn't anything they could do about a situation. Even assuming that such an illogical concept as luck - things could certainly be predisposed to achieving certain outcomes, but this was based on physical attributes, not luck - existed, just saying 'good luck' wouldn't change a person's luck.

Words had power, but the laws of the universe were set in stone, and sounds produced by a very physical voice box, which was itself subject to universal rules, could not alter them. Anything that appeared to violate these laws simply appeared to do so because humans hadn't yet reached the point where they could understand what they were seeing.

Many more people walked by, and N politely asked them each time whether they could tell him what the door was hiding. The results were all the same - no one knew. Or no one was telling him. N could rarely discern if someone was lying unless they directly contradicted known facts. He was terrible at lying, but it seemed to come naturally to most people, which confused him.

He understood intuitively that it was advantageous to be able to lie in order to avoid conflict, but wouldn't a society based on trust be better? If everyone knew that others could only speak the truth, then everyone would trust each other.

... Though perhaps that was too naîve. Other than Zorua, N didn't have anyone to bounce his ideas off of, so he sometimes couldn't tell if he was being too idealistic.

The hallway's activity had died down somewhat, leaving the silence to be punctuated only by N turning his book's pages. He'd underestimated the amount of time he'd be spending in front of the door; with the low level of success he was having, he'd probably be there for the rest of the day. He didn't mind, though - he could read in front of a door just as easily as he could in his room.

A few minutes later and he'd finished the second book he'd grabbed. Just as he was about to stand up to run and get a few more, he heard a noise. Zorua's ears perked up, and N pressed an ear to the door, listening carefully.

He heard what sounded like a groan. It continued for three more seconds before cutting off. Though machinery could make odd noises, N felt confident that he could rule out a machine, as he thought that at least someone would have noticed machines being moved into the room.

But by ruling out machines, he left himself with very few other options. Could it be something alive?

It wouldn't make sense for it to be a person. Even though N wasn't allowed to go down to the bottom floor - a basement floor buried under several stories of dirt and concrete - he knew that that was where prisoners were kept. It didn't get much use, because most members objected to it and there weren't many occasions to capture people.

So if the cause of the noise was alive, that left only one possibility. A Pokemon. But N couldn't think of a reason why a Pokemon would be locked in a room.

He looked down at Zorua. "Do you have an idea of who could be beyond the door?" he asked. Zorua had better hearing than he did, so it was definitely possible for him to have picked up something that N couldn't detect.

"Ru zoru." _No, but I'm worried_.

N took another look at the door.

"So am I."

* * *

After hearing the noise, N had checked to see if Ghetsis was in the building - and he was. N had come up with a plan, and as that plan involved searching Ghetsis' office, it required Ghetsis to be out of the building.

N didn't like the idea of going through Ghetsis' things, but he needed to find out what was behind the door. It was no longer a simple case of curiosity. With the possibility that something living could be locked in the room, the stakes had gotten much higher.

N had been sitting in the lobby with the door open so that he could look outside. It wasn't unusual for him to spend time people-watching - people could be very interesting, after all - so his presence wouldn't raise any eyebrows. The reason he'd chosen the spot, however, was because if Ghetsis left the building, he'd have to pass through these doors, and so it would be impossible for N to miss him leaving.

Three hours and two books later, and one of the elevators began to open. N's head snapped up, though he was afraid that it was yet another false alarm. His fear, however, proved quickly to be unfounded, as Ghetsis, followed by two attendants, stepped out of the elevator, his Zweilous walking at his side. N gathered up his books, and he and Zorua scrambled out of the way.

Preoccupied with what looked to be reprimanding one of his assistants, Ghetsis didn't even spare N a passing glance as he exited through the double doors. This would usually bother N, but today it was for the best. The less suspicion N arose, the better.

He waited fifteen minutes to be sure that Ghetsis hadn't forgotten anything that he'd be returning for before calling an elevator and ascending to the floor with Ghetsis' office. It didn't take long, and he soon stepped out, much closer to his destination.

He walked to the door to the office and jiggled the doorknob; as expected, the door opened without a problem. N had never understood why Ghetsis left his office unlocked. He was a very private individual, and he always valued security. Files that were even remotely sensitive were kept under lock and key, so for him not to lock his office was very strange. In N's experience, people often followed a specific behavioural pattern. Breaking this pattern was rare.

That was what N was worried about - that this security flaw wasn't a flaw at all; not a breach of pattern, but another manifestation of it.

Reaching the desk, N pulled out the first drawer he came to and started carefully but quickly sorting through it. Though he came across a multitude of papers and files, he'd skimmed them all and determined that they weren't what he was looking for. The other drawers were much the same.

He moved on to the file cabinets. Searching these took a great deal longer, and after he was done, he was beginning to feel like he'd been in the office too long. The file cabinets had contained nothing even remotely suspicious, and all that was left was Ghetsis' laptop lying on his desk.

N was about to lift up the top before Zorua yipped to get his attention. Kneeling down, he asked what the matter was.

"Zo zoru!" _Someone's coming!_ N sprung into action, closing the file cabinets and tidying up the files within. He did a quick once-over of the room to make sure that everything was as it should be.

He turned around to leave and froze in his tracks.

Ghetsis entered the room slowly and confidently, Zweilous trailing close behind him.

"You're a fool." Zorua pressed up against N's leg, and N fought the urge to shrink against the desk. "Didn't you find it strange that the office wasn't locked?"

"I did," N admitted quietly, "but I thought -"

"You thought what?" Ghetsis interrupted, stepping further into the room. "That I left it unlocked because I had nothing to hide? Because I trust my subordinates? How naïve." By the way he said it, the last phrase was clearly an insult. "The room is alarmed whenever I'm not in it. The unlocked door tempts only those who are disloyal, and the alarm allows me to catch them and weed them out."

So the lack of a lock had been bait, and the room, a trap. A continuation of the pattern.

"Come with me." The command left no room for argument.

N followed Ghetsis out of the room and to one of the locked file rooms. Taking a set of keys out of his pocket, Ghetsis unlocked the file room and shoved N inside. He grabbed Zorua by his mane and pointed towards the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. As Zorua flailed about wildly, Zweilous let out an ear-piercing screech, and the bulb shattered.

Ears still ringing, N didn't even have time to react before Ghetsis slammed the door shut, locked the door, and left, taking Zorua with him. The crack under the door barely let in any light, making the tiny room almost pitch black.

N picked a spot that he judged to be far enough away from the broken glass to be safe and sat down. The darkness made him anxious, and at the first flutterings of fear he felt panic begin to set in.

This wasn't the first time he'd been locked in a lightless room as punishment, though it didn't happen often - N rarely disobeyed Ghetsis' rules, and this particular punishment was Ghetsis' most severe. N knew it could be worse, but that didn't make the situation any more bearable.

Instead of becoming more accustomed to the dark, he'd grown more afraid of it.

He wished that Zorua was with him, but, as Ghetsis usually did, he had taken Zorua away. Not to punish Zorua, but to further punish N - there wasn't a point to punishing Zorua, so Ghetsis usually just left him to be watched over by a random Team Plasma member.

N closed his eyes. He preferred being able to see nothing at all to being able to make out indistinct and vaguely menacing shapes in the darkness of the room.

He brought his knees to his chest and pressed himself against the wall. Even though he risked this very thing happening again, he couldn't give up. He had to find out what was going on.

* * *

Five days had passed since his temporary confinement, and N had spent the time planning and lying low, making sure to go about his normal routine and avoid rousing any sort of suspicion.

Ghetsis had left the building once again. Which wasn't particularly surprising, as it happened quite often, but it was what N had been waiting for. He waited half an hour before entering Ghetsis' office.

He'd presumably tripped the alarm, but he'd taken that into account. He had been able to search the room for about twenty minutes last time; while not as long as he would have liked, it was certainly a reasonable window within which he could conduct a search of the computer.

Unlike his last attempt, he'd come prepared to tackle the computer. Turning it on, he wasn't at all surprised to learn that it was password protected - it was what he'd been anticipating, after all.

N plugged the USB he'd brought with him into one of the ports and ran the program he'd been working on. It began cycling through potential passwords. Launching a brute force attack wasn't exactly an elegant solution - it was the cracking equivalent of plugging in numbers into an equation until the correct answer was achieved - but with a computer program, N didn't expect it to take long.

He'd tested it on his own computer, and it appeared to work. He'd had to code it himself, and since computer science wasn't something he was particularly interested in and he couldn't exactly do a search for 'how to write a brute force program', he'd had to make some of it up as he went along. But as it wasn't a very complex program, he'd managed.

Even though the program seemed to be capable of doing its job, that didn't mean that it would be able to crack the password in time. Depending on the strength of the password, it could take anywhere from less than a second to more than a billion years, and only time would tell whether it leant towards the former or the latter length.

Fifty-two seconds later, and the program had successfully found the password. It was a jumble of letters that was effectively human-proof, but one that fell easily to a program that had speed on its side.

Knowing that he wouldn't have enough time to look through everything, he went ahead and started copying the entirety of the computer's contents onto the USB. After ten minutes, he had roughly seventy gigabytes worth of material sitting on the drive.

He ejected the USB, pulled it out, and shut down the laptop, returning it to its former position. It was now time to go.

* * *

Once he'd returned to his room, N had spent ten hours straight going through all of the folders. He was tired and his eyes were protesting against staring at a computer for so long, but he didn't want to take a break.

He clicked on the next folder, which happened to contain all of the programs. He didn't think that he'd find anything in there, but it would bother him if he skipped a folder. Quickly scanning the list of programs, he didn't find anything unfamiliar. Just to be thorough, he started checking the program's properties.

When he came to the chess program, he noticed something odd. He had the exact same program on his computer - it came standard - and his was only five megabytes in size. This program, despite the fact that it should have been exactly the same, was more than a gigabyte large. Suspicious, N opened up the chess program's contents.

It immediately became clear that he'd at least found _something_. Dozens of documents, along with folders set aside for pictures and videos, had been hidden within the program. It took him a good half hour to go over everything, and by the end of it, he knew exactly what Ghetsis was doing.

One of the documents had described where the trafficked Pokemon were being held throughout the building. Due to how aggressive the training made them, they could only be kept with the Pokemon they'd been trained with - even limiters couldn't prevent a Pokemon from using its claws or fangs, and cages could be broken out of.

N shut down his computer and wandered over to sit on his bed. When Zorua hopped into his lap, he hugged him to his chest. He felt tears pricking at the edges of his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away - crying wasn't going to fix the problem. _Emotions _weren't going to fix problem.

But he didn't know what to do, and that scared him. Plans and ideas came easily to him, and in the absence of an immediate solution, he felt frustrated - like it was his fault that he couldn't come up with a solution right away.

It wasn't as simple as grabbing the key to the rooms and freeing the Pokemon. From the videos he'd seen, the Pokemon were extremely aggressive, only listening to the person who'd worked with them. If let out onto the streets, they could harm people and other Pokemon, and they'd be quickly caught and killed by the city police, and N entirely lacked the resources to bring them out of the city. And even if he had them, releasing them might do more harm than good, as the wild Pokemon would be in danger. Even if he could somehow release them and guarantee that they wouldn't pose a threat to the existing Pokemon, Ghetsis would just replace them with new Pokemon, and the process would begin again.

Any feasible solution would need to be far-reaching and permanent. He ran through ideas. The source of the problem was Ghetsis and anyone who was contributing to the project, which led to two possibilities.

He discarded the first one outright, as he knew that Ghetsis would not willingly stop was he was doing. Making a moral appeal to someone like Ghetsis, an incredibly stubborn and strong-willed person so interested in power and money, was something with a very low, if not nonexistent, success rate.

Which left the other potential solution - oust Ghetsis from his position as Team Plasma leader, and flush out all of the members who worked with him on the trafficking. It wasn't guaranteed to work, and it was neither fast nor easy.

But N was determined to make it happen.

* * *

**A/N:** Ghetsis has a Zweilous and not a Hydreigon because he's never served in battle and Hydreigon cannot be caught in the wild (whereas Zweilous can) - so if he let his Zweilous evolve, then it'd be obvious that the limiter wasn't working.

I made up a password that I thought Ghetsis would use and plugged it into a password safety tester to get the time required for a brute force attack to crack it. His password was axfjmpvt. See if you can guess where it comes from (I'll explain it in the notes for the next chapter).

Ghetsis' room does not have a camera in it because he doesn't want to be observed. Of course it's possible for him to say that the camera should be off when he's in it, but he's too paranoid to believe that people wouldn't be tempted to spy on him against his orders.


	27. Reconciliation

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 24: Reconciliation -**

Touya noticed that, of his two neighbours, one was completely uninterested in him, whereas the other was glancing at him curiously out of the corner of his eye, probably in some sort of attempt to be subtle. Touya turned his gaze towards the front and tried to ignore the attention, because it looked like the guy might start a conversation with him and Touya wanted to learn, not be a nuisance to other students.

"Is everyone familiar with the seventeen types?"

No one answered, but the silence was answer enough, and a couple of people nodded as well. Even people uninvolved with warfare usually knew the different types, just because knowing how to handle a Pokemon of a particular type was very useful. For example, because Oshawott was a water type, Touya knew that Oshawott could get dehydrated easily if there wasn't any water around and that exposing him to electricity, no matter how weak, was a very bad idea.

Most people couldn't identify a Pokemon's type unless it was very obvious, like a Pokemon with flames on its body or prominent fins, but generally everyone knew the types of Pokemon they regularly came into contact with.

Come to think of it, Touya didn't even know Zorua's typing. If he had to guess, he'd probably guess dark just based on the colouring, but looks could be deceiving, so it was entirely possible that he was incorrect.

"Alright, good. That saves me the trouble of going over them. I mentioned earlier that we'll be going over type advantages and weaknesses. Some of these make sense, and some don't, but I'll try and help you remember them all."

The teacher looked around the room until her eyes settled on a man in roughly the middle of the room. A green blob of a Pokemon that Touya didn't recognize was floating by the man's head.

"Do you know what type your Solosis is?" the teacher asked. The man nodded.

"He's a psychic type."

"Right." She wrote 'psychic' on the board. "Do you know what he's weak to? What his advantages are? What resists him?"

The man seemed a bit taken aback, like he hadn't expected his knowledge to be questioned any further. He shook his head.

"Psychic is strong against fighting and poison, and weak to bug, dark, and ghost. It's resisted by steel and itself and completely ineffective against dark. For its weaknesses, just remember that everything it's weak to is something that people often fear. For its strengths, for fighting, think brain over brawn; for poison, they both start with 'p'." She wrote on the board as she spoke. "Steel resists most types, and dark types are too cunning to have their minds controlled."

Touya was a little worried at how he was going to remember all of this for every single type, but he was impressed by how well the teacher was doing. As someone who had a good but not fantastic memory, he appreciated being given ways to remember information.

The teacher went around the room, calling on people until she'd covered all of the types.

"We're almost out of time, so I'll quickly show you all how to use a TM. Does anyone want to volunteer a Pokemon who hasn't learned four moves yet?"

Touya considered volunteering Oshawott, but he didn't know what a TM was, and, always leery of volunteering for mysterious things, he decided that waiting was probably best. After a couple of seconds of people waiting for other people to volunteer, someone in the front row raised her hand.

The teacher walked over to the woman's Pokemon - a somewhat odd-looking orange and yellow Pokemon that looked perpetually annoyed - and took out an object that looked like a CD. She held it up to show to the class.

"This is a TM, short for technical machine. They're reusable, and they teach your Pokemon a new move. This one teaches Protect, which is extremely useful for warfare - the Pokemon of Unova soldiers are required to know either Protect or Detect."

She carefully touched the disk to the yellow Pokemon's head, removing it after a few seconds of contact. She asked the Pokemon to show off a Protect, and it threw up a shimmering wall that Touya assumed meant that it had learned the move successfully.

But how on earth did a living being learn something from having a manmade disk shoved up against its face? In what sort of world did that make sense?

"There's a collection of TMs in the library on the fourteenth floor that you're all free to use. Some require approval to access, but most can be used on the spot. If you need help deciding which moves to learn, then you can ask any of the teachers. We're all on this floor down in the office at the end of the hallway."

Touya could safely say that there was no way he was going to remember all of this new information, but right before the class was dismissed, the teacher informed them that everything she'd covered was available within the Team Plasma database.

As Touya was getting up to leave, the teacher came over to him, looking a bit bashful. "I forgot to introduce myself earlier, didn't I? My name's Telka Minar. And don't try to call me 'Ms. Minar' - I prefer Telka! Anyway," she said, switching topics with a rapidity that Touya found a little surprising, "Like I said, if you have any questions, feel free to come by the office."

Touya mumbled a thank-you - he wasn't really used to teachers being so helpful; what it said that he'd had to leave school to find a nice teacher, he wasn't sure.

"Also," Telka said, catching Touya off-guard just as he was poised at the door to leave, "if you ever want to talk about N, then that's a reason to stop by, too."

Touya had to admit that he was curious about what a member of Team Plasma would have to say about N, but he couldn't really see himself dropping by to chat with a stranger about N, because that just felt weird. Maybe after he'd had a few more classes with Telka, he'd change his mind.

The class had taken roughly an hour, so Touya decided to head to the library instead of looking for N. He told himself that this wasn't because he was being a wimp and avoiding N, but because he thought that N might still be in his meeting and he wanted to see what the library was like.

When he reached the fourteenth floor, he was amazed by how large the library was. It took up the entire floor, though part of it was dedicated to TMs and about half of it was a research area outfitted with study areas and computers. The other half had shelves filled with books.

He thought that it might have been the fact that they were all organized, but there looked to be way more books in the library than in N's room. Which did make sense, after all, because an entire organization probably required more reading material than a single person, no matter how voracious a reader that person might be.

Touya had really just wanted to get a look at the library - he didn't even know where to start where it came to TMs, and he didn't want to go back and ask for help so soon after class had ended. He decided to kill time looking around, and then go see if N was done.

He wandered over to the research area, settling into one of the chairs in front of a computer. He waved the mouse around to turn the monitor back on and was faced with a log in screen. He was being asked for a username and password, which he obviously didn't have.

He had kind of wanted to take a look at what sort of computer materials he had access to, but there wasn't much he could do about it right now. He'd just have to ask N later if he could have an account.

He was feeling a little intimidated by all of the difficult-looking books - from what he could see from his spot by the computer, many of the books were rather large and hardcover, which Touya could only equate with the many textbooks he'd had to suffer through as a student.

Still, he wasn't going to discount the library entirely just because some of the books looked imposing. He liked reading, after all - he wanted to be sure that he'd be able to understand was he reading. He'd come back when he had more time to spend there.

As it was, even though he hadn't been in the library for long, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and like maybe he was actually avoiding N after all, which was something he'd promised himself that he wouldn't do.

He exited the library and was in the middle of booking a right when he realized that he had no idea where to find N and that if he started going off in random directions he would not only never find him, but probably also get himself lost in the process.

In retrospect, he should have asked the man who'd taken him to the classroom where he could find N, but he'd missed his chance. The only place Touya could think of to look would be the floor N lived on, but to go up there uninvited seemed presumptuous and rude. Kind of like letting yourself into someone's house without their permission.

Someone would likely tell N that he'd been here, at least, which meant that N would know that Touya had come looking for him. Since he didn't have a day off tomorrow, Touya planned on coming over as soon as work ended.

* * *

The first thing he noticed upon entering the apartment was that Touko and Cheren were conspicuously absent. Cheren was probably in his room, but Touko usually liked to hang out on the couch.

More likely than not, Touko was out and about, possibly visiting Bianca. Touya decided to take advantage of the rare peace and quiet and just relax, which was something that he hadn't really had time to do lately.

He sat down on the couch, considered the fact that he was surprisingly tired, and laid down. Oshawott climbed up next to him and snuggled up against him, and Touya reached for the remote, switching the television and quickly locating an acceptable channel.

After watching TV for about twenty minutes, Touya closed his eyes - not because he planned on falling asleep, but because he wanted to rest his eyes. Obviously.

Two hours later, he was somewhat violently awakened by the enthusiastic shutting of the apartment door and someone calling out to see if anyone was home. Before Touya could even move - waking up quickly wasn't exactly a strong suit of his - he heard footsteps heading towards the couch.

"Hi, Touya."

Touya muttered something that maybe sounded like 'hello', if one was being generous. He opened his eyes in time to see Touko preparing to sit down, and he had just long enough to pull his legs back before she sat on them.

Touya bemoaned the fact that few people he knew had an adequate sense of personal space.

He twisted himself around so that he was now in a sitting position, and Oshawott moved from his spot on the couch to Touya's shoulder. Touya looked at Touko a little reproachfully, as if he could communicate the idea that it wasn't polite to sit on people through looks alone.

"How did your visit with N go?" she asked. Touya could tell that she was genuinely interested, but there also a hint of something else. Possibly annoyance, which was probably justified, seeing as he had essentially run away from their conversation.

"He was -" Touya stopped, realizing that telling Touko that N had been in a meeting would prompt too many questions. "Busy."

"But today's one of his days off, isn't it?"

Touya was about to question what she meant by that before he sorted it out - he'd been to see N before on a Tuesday, which meant that N had to have been home. And nearly all people in their teens were either working at a factory or off at war, so Touko had gone ahead and assumed that N had a factory job.

"He just had something else to do."

Touko looked at him for a moment. "You really wanted to talk to him, didn't you." The surprise must have shown on his face, because Touko followed up her comment with, "You sounded kind of sad about it."

"... I guess," Touya responded. He'd fully intended to sound noncommittal, but he noticed that he actually did sound a little depressed about the whole thing. Which annoyed him, because he really had no right to be sad about not being able to see N today - N had been doing important things, things that probably related to Unova's future, and those things were more important than one person.

Still. He _had_ wanted to see him.

Touko's expression softened for a moment, and Touya was almost sure that he was going to be let off the hook for leaving that morning. "Was there a reason you had to leave here in such a hurry?"

... Or not.

"Not really?"

"Look, you can tell me if you don't want to talk about what you said last night. And..." Touko had obviously given this at least a little bit of thought, "if you have a really good reason for not wanting to talk about it, then I won't bother you about it."

He could tell her right now that he was maybe in love with N, but he knew that he wasn't ready to discuss it with her yet. He needed to have more time to deal with it and sort things out.

"I'm not ready to talk about it." Touko looked a little disappointed, but for once, Touya wasn't going to give in. "I'll - I'll tell you when I'm ready."

Touko regarded him carefully for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he was telling the truth. "Okay," she agreed, coming to sort of conclusion. Suddenly, she smiled. "Thanks for not avoiding the issue." Touya felt relieved that he'd gotten himself out of the situation without resorting to dodging the problem.

"You're welcome."

* * *

**A/N: **Some TMs require prior approval to use just because the misuse of certain moves could be disastrous. Just imagine someone accidentally flooding an entire floor with Surf or blasting a gaping hole through the building with Hyper Beam.

Telka's name comes from the Czech word učitelka, meaning a female teacher. Her surname is a traditional Czech surname.

Now for the password! axfjmpvt is zweilous with all of the letters bumped up one place. For example, z's the last letter in the alphabet, so you go one spot ahead and that wraps around to a, because a is the first letter of the alphabet. Even though it'd be very hard for a human to guess, for a program, it's very easy, given that it's composed solely of lower case letters.


	28. Compelled

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 25: Compelled -**

After work, Touya had left for the Team Plasma headquarters, and Bianca had gone back to the apartment with Touko. He was let inside fairly quickly and informed that he could go ahead and head up to the twenty-seventh floor.

It wasn't until he actually got into the elevator that he started panicking a little. He wasn't going to back out now - not that he really could at this point, but, still - and he hadn't changed his mind about talking to N, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking.

He told himself that at least he had a couple of seconds to calm down, right before the elevator decided to defy his expectations and open its doors to N's floor. The panic was essentially back in full force. Not that it had really subsided much to begin with.

Touya tore his eyes away from the elevator's floor counter and looked straight ahead, only to lock eyes with N by accident. He reflexively averted his eyes, but, determined not to send the wrong message, he met N's gaze once again.

For a second, nothing was said, but the silence was enough - like when they'd last seen each other, there was _something_; something intangible that hadn't been there before. Or hadn't been noticed.

N was the one who broke the silence. "Do you mind if I put away books while we talk?" he asked, sounding fairly close to his usual calm. Touya knew that if he talked right now he'd sound nowhere near as composed, so he just shook his head.

N started wandering towards one of the adjoining rooms, and Touya followed behind him. It was surprisingly messy, with piles of books pushed into a rough circle around a bookcase that was almost entirely empty. N had probably been in the middle of organizing when Touya had arrived. There were other books in the room, but they were either already on a shelf or pushed far way enough so that they didn't get mixed up with the nearby books.

Touya gave the books a brief glance, trying to figure out why they'd been selected for this bookcase and not another one. The titles and authors were both all over the place in terms of the starting letter, which meant that there was some overall organization beyond blanket alphabetization.

N knelt down in the middle of the semicircle. For some reason, Touya had the thought that this methodical and very organized sort of book sorting looked very official. Which was kind of dumb, because book sorting was book sorting and there wasn't exactly an official way to do it.

Touya started trying really hard to focus.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you yesterday," N said, glancing up at Touya before he began to sort the books into even smaller piles. "There was a meeting that I had to attend." Touya always felt bad when people apologized for things that didn't actually warrant an apology - even though he was guilty of this transgression on occasion, it made him feel like he was causing other people trouble when he was on the receiving end.

He felt especially bad about N apologizing, mainly because he had absolutely nothing to apologize for.

"It's okay," Touya said, hoping that his tone matched his words. Since N didn't seem like he was going to get up any time soon and Touya felt awkward standing - he wasn't sure what it was, but holding a conversation when one person was standing and the other was sitting just never felt right - Touya took a seat on the floor. He was careful not to obstruct N's access to the books, but he sat reasonably close.

But not too close. He couldn't ignore the fact that even something as formerly inconsequential as proximity could carry an additional meaning now.

"I -" he started to say, but stopped himself short. He'd been about to say that he didn't mind N having to go to a meeting, but that wasn't true. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic to tell N that it bothered him and he probably never would, but he wasn't going to lie about it. "I thought the class was interesting."

Touya could see N smile just slightly. He couldn't be sure if he could take that as a sign that N was relaxing a little, but Touya felt somewhat less nervous than when he'd first arrived at the floor. They hadn't gotten around to the issue yet, but Touya didn't feel like they were avoiding it. It was more like they were working up to it - they'd get there eventually.

"What about it did you like?" N asked with interest, continuing his sorting without missing a beat. Touya realized that each pile had books with authors whose surnames started with the same letter.

Touya thought for a moment, recalling yesterday's events. "There was a lot of information all at once, but the teacher gave us ways to remember it, so it wasn't overwhelming."

"I'm glad," N remarked. He seemed to consider something. "In contrast to practice battles, classes are only required through the beginner level. Do you think you might want to continue after completing the beginner courses?"

It wasn't a question that Touya had been expecting. It was probably too soon for him to tell whether or not continuing would be the best choice - he was doing okay so far, but he'd only had one battle and one class, so that barely meant anything. It would no doubt be useful to take more than what was required, but he didn't know if he'd actually be good at this sort of thing, or even if he would personally need to learn more than the basics.

He had the feeling that he was never going to be a fantastic trainer; he just couldn't see himself getting good enough at it to be anything more than just a regular person who happened to know - kind of - how to conduct himself in a Pokemon battle.

"Maybe," Touya responded, "but I, um, don't know yet." It wasn't exactly a satisfactory answer, so he wasn't really surprised when N didn't have an immediate response. N wasn't rude so he wasn't just going to leave Touya hanging, but Touya didn't want this to devolve into one of those strained conversations where one person keeps giving horrible responses and the other desperately gropes for new topics.

Luckily, something did occur to him, and it was actually someone relevant to the topic, avoiding the issue of a potential non sequitur. "After class, I went to the library," he said, pausing for a second to gather his thoughts. "A lot of the books looked pretty difficult, but also interesting."

"If you haven't read it, then how can you tell if a book is difficult?" It was fairly clear from his tone that he was only teasing, but Touya still felt a little embarrassed.

"They were large and had hard covers," he explained, realizing how ridiculous his reasoning was. "They, um, reminded me of textbooks," he added, as if that made things any better.

"You must have been looking in the nonfiction section, then. Possibly the references. Did you see the fiction?"

"No." He hadn't looked that hard, but it was still a surprise to learn that the headquarters even had a fiction section. He understood the logic of having books on things like Pokemon battling and so on, but fiction generally didn't impart a lot of factual knowledge. "Why does the library have fiction?" Touya asked. "It seems like it's mostly for learning."

"Most of the fiction within this building's library has been banned." Touya knew that some books had parts censored, but he didn't know that some fiction books had been banned entirely. Obviously anti-government books would be banned, but banning fiction seemed odd. Fictional stories were, by definition, made-up, so they should be harmless. "They all deal with potentially dangerous topics, such as revolting against a tyrannical government."

Now that N put it that way, it did kind of seem like a bad idea from the government's perspective to allow that kind of story, no matter how fictional, to be read by Unova's citizens.

"I don't often read fiction, but that is a personal preference. Many people prefer fiction to nonfiction, and fiction often has the same merit as nonfiction. The goal of the library is not to make people to learn - it is to make people _want _to learn."

Touya was getting more and more interested in the kinds of books the library had. The fiction books definitely sounded intriguing, and if they could help him learn something in the process, then he'd even be the better for it.

But he'd always been terrible at picking out books to read. Most of the time, the books he ended up reading were ones that Touko had first read and then thought that he'd like - she was a surprisingly good judge of what he'd enjoy reading - or books that he'd gotten as gifts. Choosing something on his own tended to be hit and miss.

"Do you have any recommendations for fiction?" Touya felt a little awkward about asking, but he was interested to find out what N would recommend. And since N had said himself that fiction wasn't really something he usually read, anything he recommended would probably have to be really good.

N took a second to respond. "If you will let me think on it, then I can gather a few books for the next time you come by."

_The next time. _It was reassuring, even if N hadn't intended it to phrase implied that no matter what happened, it was going to be okay for Touya to come back another day.

"I - I'd really like that."

Touya thought that now might be a good time, if not the best time, to bring up the topic they'd both been anticipating. He had gone from freaking out to being at least somewhat calm, and even though he couldn't be sure, N seemed to be a little more calm as well.

He still couldn't help but hesitate, because no matter what happened, something was going to change between them, and that kind of change was frightening.

But some part of him insisted that it also worth it.

"So," Touya began, glad that he was sitting down because he was feeling a bit weak, "can we talk about what happened two days ago? Um, in the elevator?"

N stopped sorting books and brought his eyes up to meet Touya's.

* * *

**A/N:** The reason N puts off recommending books for Touya is because he knows that it would be more convenient if he got them for him, and he also wants to be sure that he's recommending stuff that's the best he's got. I get asked for book recommendations a lot, and I find that I often blank when put on the spot. It's hard picking one book out of thousands I've read, especially if the person's asking for something with really general criteria (like just 'fiction').


	29. Progress

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 26: Progress -**

"You're referring to what happened after the power returned?" N clarified. Touya could understand being cautious, and he couldn't blame N for wanting to make sure that they were talking about the same thing.

"Yes," Touya replied, relieved that, for the moment, he wasn't stammering. Though considering the conversation they were about to have, that would very likely be happening pretty soon.

"... In that case, then I believe that I was about to kiss you." N's eyes flicked away from Touya's for a moment, briefly glancing around the room before settling back on Touya.

Touya felt like he should say something, but all he could for the first few seconds was stare. He did at least feel relieved that he hadn't misread the situation, but that didn't exactly lessen the shock of hearing it straight from N. He knew that it would be both impossible and idiotic to dance around the issue forever, but to have N just come out and admit it was extremely forward. Still, Touya had to concede that there was probably something logical about wanting to go ahead and get to the point.

"I think I was about to - to kiss you, too." It had taken a lot to verbalize that. At this point, Touya wasn't worried about stammering; as long as he could actually get out the words that he wanted, things were not going to go completely terribly.

"Do you remember when you explained how a person realizes that they are in love with someone?" Touya nodded. Even though he was almost completely sure about where this line of questioning was going, his optimism was still somewhat coloured by disbelief.

N closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if preparing himself for what he was about to say. Touya knew he was blushing, and he could feel his heart pounding, but N had his full attention. He didn't want to look away.

"Outside of professional situations, no person has ever wanted to spend time with me. When you asked me over for dinner and then continued to visit, I knew that you were different. I like spending time with you - I like _you_ - and I find myself thinking about you far more than is necessary."

These past few days, Touya had been thinking that maybe, just maybe N might like him in a possibly romantic way, but he didn't expect to be told so directly and to have the reasons laid out for him. Touya knew that he wasn't the kind of person who stood out, so to be so noticed by someone and so liked definitely wasn't something that he was used to.

He couldn't just ignore a confession - because that's what it was - like that. He didn't _want _to ignore a confession like that.

"It - it's the same for me." This conversation might have been a killer on his nerves and on his heart rate, but Touya couldn't help but think that it was worth it. Admitting to N - and to himself - that he was in love with N wasn't easy and was maybe even a little frightening, because he'd never done this before and he wasn't sure he knew what he getting into. But it was also exhilarating.

"We both seem to exhibit signs of being in love with each other," N offered, voice calm but with an undercurrent of something Touya couldn't identify. He'd probably said it as much for his benefit as Touya's - Touya was beginning to notice that when N didn't understand something, he tended to restate or sum up the information.

It was kind of - he didn't want to say cute, so - endearing. Like N wanted to be absolutely sure that he was getting everything right.

Touya was starting to get over some of the petrifying embarrassment and self-reevaluation that came with realizing that one was in love with someone, so he was able to not only manage a nod but also verbalize his agreement to what N had just said.

N looked just the slightest bit baffled, as if there was very little that was actually understandable about what was going on. Not breaking eye contact, he tilted his head to the side, asking, "Is there a protocol for this sort of situation?"

Touya felt kind of bad about it, especially considering how serious the conversation should have been, but he started laughing. It wasn't only the fact that the question was kind of out of left field, but it was also the way N had asked the question. He sounded genuinely hopeful that there might be some rules floating around that he wasn't aware of that had to do with precisely this particular situation.

Touya was a little worried that N might misunderstand his laughter, though. He wasn't laughing at N's lack of knowledge - sure, the question was kind of funny, but the laughter was mostly due to relief. It seemed like such a very _N_ thing to ask, and the fact that that question was his first and thus probably the one he'd deemed most important was reassuring. If wondering if there was a proper way to proceed was N's most pressing concern, then there probably weren't going to be any catastrophic problems cropping up any time soon.

"... That wasn't a normal question, was it?" N asked after a second. Touya shook his head; though he'd stopped laughing, a smile still remained on his face. Slowly, N smiled as well.

Touya had the thought that this - this whole situation, with both of them smiling and with no awkwardness between them - felt right. N moved closer, gently but firmly pushing a few errant book piles out of his path. Touya and N were now side by side.

N met his eyes, and Touya was very aware of just how close they were. "If you are not opposed to it, then I would like to pursue a relationship with you." As formal as N's words were, emotion was clearly evident in his voice.

"Like - dating?" Touya asked stupidly, feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

"I believe that that would be the word for it," N said. A note of uncertainty had crept into his voice, and Touya thought that he might understand why - though neither of them had ever been in this sort of situation before, given the extremely emotional nature of it, it must have been even stranger for N to deal with.

Touya didn't know if N was unsure about his feelings, or how he was handling things, or what the right way to proceed was, but he was obviously uncertain about _something_, and Touya wanted to try and reassure him.

"Then," Touya began, determined to sound resolute, "I'm definitely not opposed to that. At all."

Before he was even really aware of making a conscious decision on the matter, Touya leaned in closer to N, and something akin to anticipation fluttered in his chest. N met him halfway, and, instinctively shutting his eyes, Touya kissed him.

The kiss was light, neither long nor probing. It was over quickly, but Touya could still feel a phantom tingling left over from where his lips had met N's.

Having no basis of comparison, he didn't know how 'good' or 'skilled' the kiss had been - all he knew was how it had made him _feel_, and he felt warm and happy. Touya smiled shyly at N; he was embarrassed at having initiated the kiss, but he didn't regret it.

N's eyes were wide, like he was still processing what had just happened. His face was also very clearly tinged bright pink.

With some considerable reluctance, Touya got to his feet. It was about time for him to head home, and tonight would not be a good night to come home late. He didn't think that he was ready to explain to anyone what had just happened. A full second later, N stood as well.

"I - I should go. It's getting late." Touya looked at N. "But we can talk more about this later?"

N still looked a little shocked, but he relaxed just slightly and gave Touya one of his almost-smiles. "Of course."

* * *

Touya had managed to get through last night, this morning, _and _all of work while arousing no more suspicion from Touko than usual, which was something that he considered a praiseworthy achievement.

He'd been understandably quite distracted all day, zoning out way more than usual and generally being terrible company for Touko, who'd gotten annoyed with him not hearing what she was saying. She hadn't really questioned him about it, which Touya had taken to mean that she didn't think it was unusual.

Thinking about it now, though, it might have been her respecting his privacy. As strange as it was to associate that idea with Touko, she had said recently that she wouldn't pry. It was nice not having to fend off questions at every turn, but Touya was pretty sure that it wouldn't last. Touko hated not knowing things, so he knew that being in the dark was probably bothering her immensely.

Still, the fact that she was even trying was something that he really did appreciate, if only because it had to be extremely hard for her.

Touya had planned on going to see N right after he was finished working, but Touko had convinced him to wait for Bianca. She'd been more insistent about than usual, so as he waited for Bianca to emerge from the factory he couldn't help but wonder if Touko had something planned.

Bianca came out after a couple of minutes, quickly joining them.

"Now we can all go home," Touko declared, whipping around to face the direction of their apartment. It took Touya a second to realize what was off about that statement.

'All' - not 'both'. As in, not just Touko and Bianca, but Touko, Bianca, and himself. He caught up to Touko, who'd already started walking. "Wait," Touya objected, making sure that Touko had heard him, "I was going to see N."

"Touya," Touko began, fixing him with her best imploring look, "can you come straight home today?"

"... Why?" he asked cautiously. On almost any other day he probably would have given in without questioning her motives, but recent events considered, he really wanted to see N.

"Because you're my brother and I want to spend time with you!"

Touya's only response was to raise his eyebrows, silently communicating the fact that he did not believe her in the slightest.

"Okay, so that's a lie," Touko admitted. Touya told himself that at least she was being honest. "There's another reason." Touya looked at her expectantly, and Touko seemed to consider something before she grinned. "It may or may not have something to do with Cheren."

Touya was feeling very conflicted at the moment. He still wanted to see N, but he was also extremely curious as to what on earth Touko was talking about. There was basically an endless number of possibilities, and his curiosity was telling him that he should definitely find out what was going on, especially since it had to do with one of his friends.

He knew that not telling him was probably all part of Touko's plan to grab his interest, but some part of him was insisting that he _had to know_ what she was talking about.

Hoping that he wasn't going to regret this later, he agreed to follow Touko and Bianca home.

* * *

**A/N:** Right before I was about to write them kissing, I started wondering why people close their eyes when they kiss, so I stopped what I was doing and googled it. Not that this is really relevant to the story, but there are evidently three reasons why people do this: 1) to avoid emotional/sensory overload, 2) people can look kind of weird super up close, and 3) to avoid freaking out the person they're kissing by staring. ... The more you know?


	30. Out for a Walk

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 27: Out for a Walk -**

Touko unlocked the apartment door, and Touya was surprised to find Cheren on the couch instead of hiding away in his temporary room. At least he was on his computer, which did interject some sense of normalcy into the scene.

Oshawott and Tepig were both sleeping on one end of the couch, though it looked like Tepig had been woken up when the door slammed shut. Servine was perched on the back of the couch, and given the attention she was paying to Cheren's computer screen, Touya was almost convinced that she was actually reading along with her owner.

Bianca set down her messenger bag by the nearest wall, and Touya took off his jacket, placing it on a nearby table that often doubled as a place to temporarily stick things.

Touko gave Cheren an unimpressed look, the effect of which was somewhat hampered by the fact that he hadn't even glanced in her direction. "Have you been here all day?" she asked, her tone making it clear that she was expecting a specific answer.

Cheren finally did rip himself away from his computer long enough to spare her a glance. "It's clear that you're expecting a 'no'. For all you know, I've been having fantastic adventures all day long and just happened to return minutes before your arrival."

Touko rolled her eyes. "Okay, so where've you been?"

Cheren shrugged. "Here. I haven't left." Touko made a noise that sounded close to frustrated sigh.

"Have you actually left this apartment since you got to Castelia?"

"No." It was clear that Cheren didn't see this as being much of a problem. "I can't bring my laptop while I'm deployed. From the start of my leave, I'd intended to make the most of having access to it."

"Why don't you get some fresh air?" Touko asked, leaning on the couch in a way that suggested that she wasn't going to give up on this line of argument any time soon.

Cheren raised his eyebrows, a gesture which, when made by him, implied that the person on the receiving end was being an idiot. "There was plenty of fresh air in my _tent _outside of Snowpoint."

Touya wasn't sure how Touko was going to respond to that, because that point was actually a pretty good one. Reclusive as he might be acting, Cheren had been outdoors for a while, so he was probably entitled to spending as much time indoors as he wanted.

Touko blinked, taking a second to form her retort. "... You should still go outside once in a while. You're gonna turn into a vampire."

"You do realize that according to mythology, vampires aren't formed by a lack of sun expo -" Cheren's objection was cut short by Touko darting her arms over the back of the couch, snatching Cheren's laptop, and sprinting down the hallway.

There was a moment where Touya, Cheren, and Bianca all just stared, in the way that only something completely unexpected can lead to. Cheren looked dumbfounded, which almost never happened and was something that Touya thought was actually kind of funny, but since he valued his life he made sure not to laugh. Or even smile, for that matter.

Everyone's shock didn't last long, and Cheren soon hopped off the couch, surrounded by an air of righteous anger. Before he could storm after Touko, however, she returned from wherever she'd just been, with only one key difference - she was no longer holding the laptop. This change did not go unnoticed, and Cheren closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if this was the most infuriating thing that he'd ever had to deal with.

He reopened his eyes and looked at Touko. "Where did you put my computer?"

"A hiding spot," she responded, wearing a cocky grin and positioning herself near the door to the outside. Touya could almost see Cheren's self-restraint kicking in as he held his tongue and walked towards Touko. Possessed of some sense of morbid curiosity, Touya followed Cheren.

Briefly, he wondered if this was what Touko had meant when she'd said that something was going to happen that 'may or may not' have to do with Cheren. Not that that made it any clearer why Touya's presence was apparently required for this, because Touko seemed to be doing a fantastic job all on her own of annoying the hell out of Cheren.

"Could you be more specific?" Cheren bit out.

"Probably," Touko replied, and Touya was starting to get a little worried that there was going to be an argument. He barely had time to wonder why Touko was so dead set on antagonizing Cheren today before Touko wrenched the door open and firmly shoved Cheren outside. In the second it took Touya to realize that he should probably get away from the open door, he'd been pushed outside as well, and the door was quickly slammed shut behind him.

Cheren looked like he wanted to kill something. Or someone. He turned around and tried the door which was, unsurprisingly, locked. Touya reached for his ID card, and the momentary confusion of not being able to locate it was replaced with a sigh of realization. The card was in his jacket - the jacket that was currently on a table inside of the apartment.

"Touko, can you please let us back in?" Touya asked. Cheren was glaring at the door, either too angry to speak or simply trying to rein in his temper. Or both.

"Sorry," came the reply, not actually sounding very sorry at all, "but Cheren needs to stop rotting indoors all day and go outside."

"... Why am _I_ out here?" Touya was unsure if he was missing some critical point of Touko's plan or if there just wasn't anything to miss to begin with.

"To make sure that Cheren doesn't sit there moping," Touko replied, sounding like it was obvious. Ignoring the fact that that was something that she could have done just as easily, Touya wondered why she was even trying this hard. Considering that no person was going to die from being shut indoors all day, there was no pressing need to force Cheren outside.

But for the life of him, Touya could not figure out her ulterior motive.

As he was planning out his next move, he heard talking on the other side of the door. He couldn't really make out what Touko and Bianca were saying, but evidently something got decided because the door was flung open just long enough for Oshawott and Servine to be gently but rapidly deposited at Touya and Cheren's feet.

Oshawott danced around Touya's legs, making a relieved sort of mewling noise before clambering up onto the top of Touya's head. Servine gracefully pulled herself up onto Cheren's shoulder using her vines.

No further sounds came from within the apartment, so Touya was forced to assume that they were being ignored. How Touko had convinced Bianca to go along with this plan, he wasn't sure, but there must have been some reason why she wasn't inclined to rescue them.

Salvation out of sight for the moment, Touya looked at Cheren, who'd since stopped attempting to bore a hole in the door with his gaze alone.

"Any suggestions?" Cheren asked. He was still clearly extremely annoyed, but his voice had lost its murderous edge, which Touya thought was at least a step in the right direction.

"We could..." Touya wracked his brain for any possible activities, "go for a walk?"

Cheren looked extremely unimpressed by Touya's suggestion, but in the end he shrugged and began walking towards the elevator. Once they'd made it out of the building, Cheren stopped and turned to Touya.

"Where were you planning on going?"

Touya blinked, and Cheren sighed. "Hadn't thought that far ahead?" he asked, and Touya shook his head self-consciously.

Touya thought about where a good place to go might be. Despite having been in Castelia for weeks already, he hadn't actually explored it all that much. The first thing that occurred to him was the Team Plasma headquarters, but taking Cheren there was a terrible idea for many, many different reasons, so that was definitely out.

It was probably kind of sad that he had no suggestions as to where they should go.

Cheren waited a moment, possibly hoping that Touya was going to come up with something. After a second of silence, he looked like he was about to give up and make a suggestion - but at the last second, Touya had an idea.

"Is it okay if we get groceries?" Not only was grocery shopping something to do, but given that they were regularly feeding more than the two people they should have been, the fridge was beginning to empty.

"That isn't exactly what I had in mind when you suggested a walk," Cheren remarked, sounding like he wasn't really ecstatic about Touya's suggestion, "but I don't have a problem with it."

Touya was fairly sure that he was capable of finding the grocery store that N had showed him; worst case, though, he could always ask someone for directions or stop by the information centre.

He started heading in what he thought was probably the correct direction. Since neither he nor Cheren were exceptionally large talkers, the first few minutes were spent in silence. It was different than silence with N, though. With N, the silence was almost charged, like it was filled with possibilities - either of them could break it, but it only existed because they'd tacitly agreed upon it.

With Cheren, it was more just because neither of them could really think of something to talk about. They could always make small talk, but Cheren hated it and Touya was terrible at it, so they never bothered when alone together.

Not that it was unpleasant. It was the sort of silence where two people have nothing to say and aren't embarrassed to admit it.

After a couple of minutes of Touya leading the way, Cheren did decide to break the silence. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Yes." Given his lack of navigational skills, though, he felt like he had to back up his point with some sort of evidence. "I came here with N once."

Touya didn't realize that this was probably not the right thing to say until he saw the glint in Cheren's eyes that indicated that he found what Touya had said to be interesting.

"How are things going with N?" Cheren asked.

"I - I don't know what you mean." Touya sped up his pace, in some vain hope that maybe if he just got to the grocery store then Cheren would drop the subject.

"Of course not," Cheren muttered, though he didn't seem that upset by Touya's evasiveness. He seemed to consider something for a moment. "Tell me about him."

* * *

**A/N:** I actually can't think of anything to comment on for this chapter, except that Cheren's laptop is unharmed, because Touko does have some sense of self preservation.


	31. A Wild Guess

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 28: A Wild Guess -**

"Huh?" Touya sputtered, wondering if he'd heard Cheren correctly.

"Tell me. About N," Cheren repeated, in his 'I'm a saint for putting up with this' voice. "I've never met him, and I'm interested in why he's caught your attention."

He wasn't sure why, but it hadn't occurred to Touya until this moment that Cheren and N had never met before. Probably because N _had_ met Touko and Bianca, even if it was only on one occasion.

It was also kind of a while ago. He thought that it would be nice to have N over again, though he wasn't sure how well Cheren and N would get along. They were both scary smart, but that meant nothing regarding how well the two would like each other. Neither of them were outwardly that emotional, but with N that was more because he couldn't express himself well; with Cheren, it was just that he was a less emotional person.

And aside from those two similarities, their personalities really were very different. N was polite and considerate, kind without thinking about what he could get in return. Cheren had no compunctions about rudeness, and he wasn't exactly the nicest person ever. But he was capable of self control, and Touya thought that if he bothered to exercise some of it then Cheren and N might actually get along.

Touya thought about how to explain to Cheren what he thought of N. A million words came to mind, all competing for attention. "He's interesting and - and really smart. And he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's logical, and he loves math and science." Touya was going to mention how N wasn't always great at dealing with his emotions, but he realized that that might be too personal. The description he'd given was more than decent without it, anyway.

Cheren had a knowing look; it was the kind he adopted when he sure that he'd figured something out. Touya was understandably a little worried. "You really like him, don't you." It was a statement, not a question; but Touya still blushed and nodded.

"Are you romantically interested in him?" Cheren asked calmly. The interest was there - it was clear that he at least somewhat wanted to know the answer - but from his tone he might as well have been inquiring about the weather.

"Um," Touya responded, because he needed time to think. His first urge was to deny it, but that just... didn't feel right.

He tried to rationalize telling Cheren the truth. If he told Cheren, it was almost a guarantee that Cheren wouldn't tell anyone. Unlike Touya, Cheren was fantastic at keeping secrets. Touya had asked him about it before, because he hadn't thought that Cheren kept secrets out of a desire not to harm the person who'd told him. Cheren's explanation had been simple, and in hindsight Touya should have seen it coming.

He kept secrets because if he told them, then people would stop divulging the interesting tidbits of information that they had to offer.

"Yes," Touya said, unable to look at Cheren as he answered. He still couldn't help but glance back at Cheren to see his reaction. Instead of being surprised, Cheren just nodded, like that answer was what he'd been expecting. Touya blinked. "You... you knew?"

Cheren didn't roll his eyes, but his tone said it all. "You weren't exactly subtle about it."

"You don't think that Touko -"

"She's teased you about it before, hasn't she?"

"But she always does that," Touya objected, feeling just a little panicky. He didn't like the idea of people figuring out his feelings for N before he told them. Or even before he figured them out himself - how long had Cheren suspected, anyway?

"True," Cheren conceded. "Though I think that you're blinding yourself if you think that she doesn't suspect anything." Suddenly, Cheren's eyes widened just barely. "I believe I know why Touko kicked us out."

"Why?" Touya had to admit that he was awfully curious about Touko's motive for what she'd done. He hadn't been able to come up with any ideas himself, so he was glad that Cheren seemed to have it worked out.

"I'm sure she thought that I'd be curious enough to ask you about N, as it's something that I'd be more tempted to do with no one else around."

That explained why Touko had seemingly given up on bothering Touya. He probably should have felt annoyed, but she technically hadn't broken her promise - she'd said that she wouldn't ask him about what he'd said. And she hadn't, because she'd tried to use Cheren.

"But you're - you won't tell her, right?" Touya asked nervously. He was definitely going to tell her eventually, but he wanted to do so on his own terms.

Cheren shook his head and smirked. "No, I won't. I'm not sure why she thought that stealing my laptop would be a good way to get me to give her information, but it isn't going to work."

Touya smiled, expressing his relief. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Cheren responded, sounding almost entirely indifferent. "Back to the topic at hand, however." Touya went from relative calm to a familiar sense of panic.

"What do you -"

"I just have a few more questions." Touya had no idea why Cheren was taking an interest in this topic. Usually, he found people boring; really, Touya had no idea why he seemed to like hanging out with him, Touko, and Bianca.

He did like to collect information, though, which was probably where this line of questioning was coming from.

"Is N romantically interested in you?"

"I don't know." The response was automatic. He'd felt embarrassed about admitting that he loved N, yes, but he'd felt like he should own up to his feelings. Besides, telling Cheren that N liked him back was different. Touya hadn't had the chance to talk to N about how comfortable he was with sharing their relationship with other people, so it didn't feel right to talk about N's feelings.

Still. It was a pretty weak lie, and Cheren probably saw right through it.

"Let me rephrase my question. You two have kissed, correct?" The detached way in which Cheren asked the question - he was interested in the answer because of what it would tell him about Touya and N's relationship, not because he wanted any of the juicy details - would have, under other circumstances, probably made Touya laugh. In this situation, however, all Touya felt was a growing sense of mortification.

Mainly because his mind was currently blank except for the memory of kissing N, which was almost definitely detrimental to any denial he was going to try and make. He was also wondering just how the hell Cheren had guessed what had happened, because he wasn't great at reading people and _argh_.

"H-how did you -?" Touya blurted out, voicing the first half of his thoughts before he was able to slam on the brakes. He really needed to think about what he was saying before he actually said it.

Cheren shrugged, as if to downplay the significance of his question, though Touya thought that he was probably pleased with himself on the inside. "I didn't know. It was a guess. Which I usually dislike voicing, but you wouldn't have admitted to anything otherwise."

Touya didn't know whether to be annoyed or impressed. He ended up settling on neither, because it was kind of his fault that he'd allowed himself to be caught in such a simple trap.

Since he couldn't exactly escape from the situation now, there wasn't a point in hiding what had happened. It wasn't as if he was dying to talk about it with someone who wasn't N, but it might not be completely terrible, especially seeing as Cheren wasn't going to gush over how cute everything was like Touko would have.

He still didn't really know what to say, so he had two choices - say nothing or start babbling. His mind chose the latter, because life evidently disliked him at the moment. "It happened yesterday and was... not really planned, but, um, we were both okay with it, so..."

He trailed off, because today was not his day for talking.

"So the attraction is mutual." Touya nodded. "Then I suppose you've discussed how to proceed, as well as how to handle the physical side of things."

"We did talk about dating," he admitted before he finished processing the second part of what Cheren had said. He literally stopped in his tracks and ground to a halt, because _this wasn't happening_. Cheren did not just obliquely refer to sex.

Touya was so determined right now not to have The Talk with Cheren, it wasn't even funny.

"Can we please not talk about that last part?" Touya asked, realizing but not really caring that his voice sounding close to a rather pathetic whimper. Cheren muttered an indifferent 'fine' and Touya started walking again.

Truthfully, beyond the kiss he'd shared with N, Touya hadn't thought about any other sort of physical affection. He didn't even think that he was ready to start contemplating the matter.

Cheren turned to face him, and Touya knew that he was about to ask something, but he had no idea what. Cheren was unreadable. "Are you sure about him?" Seeing that Touya didn't immediately understand the question, Cheren clarified with, "I've never met him. You've described him, but at this point I have no way of knowing what he's actually like. All I want to know is if you're sure that you know him well enough to feel like you're making the right choice."

"I'm sure," Touya replied immediately, somewhat dumbfounded as to why Cheren was even asking.

"Alright, then." That was when Touya realized the motive behind Cheren's question - it hadn't been about digging for information; it was about making sure that Touya wasn't going to get hurt.

Considering Cheren's personality, it took moments like these and knowledge gained during the many years that they'd known each other for Touya to be reasonably sure that Cheren did actually like him. For someone like Cheren, expressing concern - no matter how roundabout - was a pretty big thing, so Touya really did appreciate it.

"Thanks," he said, turning to face Cheren and smiling.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Cheren deadpanned, obviously knowing exactly what Touya was referring to. Touya was considering calling Cheren out on it, but he noticed that Cheren had stopped walking. He was about to ask him why before the reason dawned on him. They were standing in front of the grocery store.

He did think that it was a bit ironic that they'd only arrived after finishing the conversation that Touya had hoped to avoid.

"Congratulations on not getting us hopelessly lost," Cheren remarked dryly. Touya decided that that comment did not deserve a response.

Even though the conversation they'd had had been far more revealing than he would have preferred, Cheren had probably been the best person to hear about Touya and N's relationship first.

Besides, now that they'd arrived at the store, Touya could at least put the walk that had been forced upon them to good use.

* * *

**A/N:** When Cheren makes his comment regarding the physical things that accompany most romantic relationships, it's not because he wants to talk about it (he'd probably find it boring to discuss, actually). It's more that it's just something that occurred to him, and so he went ahead and mentioned it. I see him as being one of those people who can talk about sex with a completely straight face.


	32. The Meeting

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 29: The Meeting -**

After buying groceries - which mostly consisted of Touya doing the actual buying while Cheren trailed after him and occasionally complained about how boring grocery shopping was - they'd walked for a little while longer, wandering around until it was time for dinner. Unless Touko wanted to try and feed herself and Bianca with a combination of cereal and random leftovers, she'd have to let them back in at this point.

Cheren knocked impatiently on the door. Touya heard a surprised yelp from inside, muffled by the door and followed by the sound of rapid footsteps. The door was wrenched open, and Bianca took one look at them before darting in to give each of them a hug. Cheren stiffened at the contact, narrowed his eyes, and inched his way inside the apartment, his shoulders raised in a way that reminded Touya of a Purrloin raising its hackles.

Not usually a fan of spontaneous physical contact himself, Touya could definitely sympathize, but he didn't think that the hug had really warranted that extreme a reaction.

Touko had craned her head over the back of the couch and was looking at them like she regretted nothing - though Touya hadn't missed the wary 'please don't kill me' glance she'd shot Cheren.

"Are you okay?" Bianca fretted, fidgeting with concern. "I'm really sorry, I thought you'd come back sooner, and, and Cheren, I didn't know that Touko was going to take your computer -"

Cheren cut her off, putting her out of her misery. "It isn't your fault." Touya was thinking how nice of him that was, when he realized that Cheren was giving Touko a very pointed look, making it clear just whose fault he thought it really was. "Besides," he said, turning back to Bianca, "going outside isn't exactly fraught with danger." Touya thought that there was probably a nicer way of saying that Bianca's concern was unnecessary.

Bianca frowned but nodded. Feeling kind of bad for her, Touya offered, "Thanks for worrying about us." Bianca brightened noticeably and gave him a smile.

"What did you end up doing?" Touko asked. Touya couldn't help but jump a little; he hadn't noticed that she'd walked over and joined them. She also appeared to be holding something behind her back.

Touko's gaze flickered to the grocery bags that Touya was holding - Cheren hadn't offered to carry them, probably since he hadn't bought them and hadn't seen the need, though Touya did think that he would have carried one of them if Touya had asked. "Other than getting groceries."

While she waited for a response, Touko handed Cheren what she'd been holding, and Cheren coolly accepted the return of his laptop. He gave it a quick once-over, presumably checking for scratches and the like. He drew it closer to his chest, giving the impression that he was protecting it from the world at large.

"We went for a walk," Cheren answered simply, disinclined to volunteer more information than that. Touya had the feeling that, now that Cheren had had his laptop safely delivered back to him, all Cheren probably wanted to do was return to his room, regardless of the fact that he hadn't eaten dinner yet.

"And that's it? No deep conversations or anything?" Touko joked. Under normal circumstances, Touya would just forget about the question because it was a very Touko-like thing to ask. But considering Cheren's proposed motive for Touko kicking them out of the apartment, it stood out to him more than usual.

Confirming Touya's earlier suspicions, Cheren started heading towards the back of the apartment where the bedrooms were located, talking as he and Servine retreated. "Forced social situations are not usually conducive to interesting conversations." Cheren slipped down the hallway, and Touya heard a door as it was subsequently opened and shut.

Touya wouldn't really describe being shoved out of the apartment as a 'social situation', but he could see what Cheren was getting at. He did notice that Cheren hadn't actually answered Touko's question. It might not have been something he'd have picked up on if he wasn't already aware of the fact that they had had a 'deep' - as Touko would put it - conversation.

Touko didn't seem to have noticed the deflection, and Bianca definitely hadn't. It made Touya wonder how often Cheren got away with not answering questions without resorting to outright lying.

* * *

For once, Touya had been able to leave straight after work, as Bianca had told them that she'd have to work late. She hadn't wanted them to wait for her, but Touko had elected to stay behind.

It hadn't taken him long to reach the Team Plasma building; by this point, he could probably find his way there with his eyes closed. He was let into the building by a woman who looked vaguely familiar - he thought that she might have opened the door for him sometime in the past.

"You're to go up to conference room C on the thirtieth floor," she said. That was new - he'd never been to any floor above the twenty-seventh, and the title of 'conference room' made the whole thing sound very official. Touya hoped that he wasn't going to be interrupting a meeting.

"You know," she began just as Touya was about to call for the elevator. "You don't have to wait for someone to let you in." Touya looked at her, confused.

"The doors aren't locked?" The first time he'd entered the building had been by accident, and the doors had obviously been unlocked then, but he'd thought that that had been a mistake.

"Only during the nighttime. Or, at least, they should be," she added, mostly to herself. "But, no, they're usually free for anyone to open."

"Isn't that... unsafe?" Touya asked tentatively.

The woman shook her head. "The people up in the security room can control the elevators remotely. It'd be suspicious if a building this big was locked all the time, right? So if someone wanders in, and they aren't supposed to be here, then even if they try the elevators, they can be set to take them only to safe floors."

That was interesting way of dealing with people who'd accidentally entered the building. Unless something went wrong - like the security lapse that she'd implied had happened on the night he'd accidentally entered the building - then it was a better way to defer suspicion than leaving the doors locked all the time.

Not that it was foolproof, but hiding an organization of this size in such a densely populated city wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Touya wondered why Team Plasma had their base here to begin with.

Maybe it was because Castelia was considered by most to be the unofficial capital of Unova. Though Crane's presidential office was not located in the city, Castelia had held the honor of being the most technologically advanced part of Unova ever since the destruction of Black City. Its importance to the war and its large population gave it additional clout.

"That makes sense," he said, for a lack of anything else to say. He went ahead and called the elevator; he could always hold it open if the conversation somehow continued to lurch forward.

Perhaps sensing his discomfort, the woman decided to give him an out. "You might want to get up there. I think the meeting's about to end, so you might miss the Commander if you don't hurry."

Touya nodded to show that he'd heard her. The elevator arrived, and he stepped into it, quickly pressing the appropriate button. He soon stepped out onto the thirtieth floor. The room ahead of him had a plaque on the door reading Conference Room E. Assuming the floor plan made any sort of sense, Touya figured that he should head left.

He located the door to conference room C easily enough, but he was hesitant to enter. Not just because he was worried about there still being a meeting in progress, but because he heard a raised, angry voice from within the room. After the voice stopped yelling - Touya couldn't make out the exact words through the door - another voice spoke up in response.

He recognized it as N's almost immediately. Though N wasn't shouting, his voice was louder than it normally was. He sounded different than usual - his voice held none of the fiery temper that was so clearly present in the voice of the man he was arguing with, but there was definitely a strained quality to it. Touya was torn between giving the people inside their privacy and wanting to eavesdrop. He'd seen N annoyed, but he'd never seen him actually angry, and if the level of his voice was anything to go by, that might actually be the case.

He couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to upset N so much.

He heard a different voice, and he barely had the time to register the fact that said voice sounded really close to the door before the door was swung open, causing him to let out an undignified but very understandable yelp of surprise. Touya had reflexes that were just good enough to avoid getting hit with a face full of door but yet not quite good enough to move out of the way of the person who was attempting to leave the room.

Touya stumbled backwards but by some miracle escaped hitting the floor. The person he'd collided with righted himself. He looked annoyed, which Touya conceded was probably something that he couldn't be blamed for, but to his credit he didn't seem like he was about to start an argument.

After a few seconds of awkwardly staring at the man in front of him, Touya realized that the room had gone completely quiet. And also that everyone happened to be staring in his general direction. What he wanted to do was run away and hope that he never saw any of these people again - N excluded, of course. What he ended up doing was standing there hoping that the situation would somehow magically improve.

Touya's eyes flickered over to N and settled there, and he noticed that N looked almost as surprised as the other people within the room. "Touya," N said softly, as if surprised by his presence - but since he'd presumably been the one to tell security where to send Touya, it was probably more that he was surprised by Touya having arrived before the meeting was over.

"I - I'm sorry," Touya stammered; though it wasn't really his fault, he knew that he probably shouldn't be there. "I'll just, um, leave."

He was about to turn around before he caught N shaking his head. "That won't be necessary." N's glanced briefly at the man next to him before looking back at Touya. "The meeting was just about to end."

The other people within the room began preparing to leave, sweeping papers into folders and closing laptops. Touya stepped aside as they filed out of the room. Too busy focusing on being as unobtrusive as possible, Touya didn't notice until after almost everyone had left the room that the man he'd heard earlier had started talking again.

"I told you before, we need more information. If we don't act now, they're going to gain an even bigger advantage." Touya tried to figure out what the guy was talking about, but he had no idea. He waited awkwardly by the door - N had told him that he didn't have to leave, but he felt like he should probably step outside.

Realizing that the meeting wasn't completely over after all, N looked over at Touya. "Would you mind going to the twenty-seventh floor? I'll be down shortly," N said, sounding apologetic.

Touya shook his head and headed straight for the elevator.

* * *

**A/N:** There wasn't a way to make this exceedingly clear since it's from Touya's POV, but when N says that meeting was just about to end anyway, he's telling the truth - it isn't just because he'd rather spend time with Touya. N wasn't counting on getting roped into an argument, especially since it's one he doesn't wish to continue (what the argument was about will be covered next chapter, for those who are curious).


	33. Information

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 30: Information -**

Touya stepped out into the room - N's room - and heard the elevator doors slide closed behind him. He was glad to have escaped the awkward situation in the conference room, but he felt weird about being on N's floor without N. Not that that feeling made any sort of sense, especially given that N had expressly told him to go here, but he felt like he was intruding.

He was curious about the rest of the floor, but he made himself wander over to the couch instead of going exploring. He noticed once he'd gotten closer that Zorua was currently curled up on the right side of the couch, back pressed to the armrest. He appeared to be sleeping, and since there was more than enough room for a person, Touya sat down.

Zorua shifted slightly, opening a single eye and making a non-threatening sort of growling noise as if to acknowledge Touya's presence. He didn't seem terribly bothered by the fact that there was now someone else sitting next to him, which Touya took as a good sign.

"Zo?" Touya tried to read Zorua for any sign of what the sound meant. It had a questioning note to it, so he had the feeling that the Pokemon was asking something - but what, he had no idea. The only Pokemon he could understand remotely well was Oshawott, and he'd spent years with him.

"I don't understand," he explained, feeling like it would be rude to respond with only silence. Zorua yawned and put his head back down, stretching and closing his eyes. Touya kicked his feet a little, wishing that he had something to do. Though the book piles had been reduced in both size and number, there was still the option of looking through them. Maybe later.

Touya glanced around the room, eyes flicking from object to object. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it before, but aside from the books, there wasn't anything of a personal nature within the room. Though the space was obviously meant more for receiving people than spending quality time there, Touya thought that there should be at least some sort of decoration, especially since the books were there mostly by temporary necessity. Maybe he was overanalyzing things, but it could be that N preferred to keep any personal items confined to the other rooms, and therefore out of sight of most of the people who set foot on the floor.

"I wonder what the other rooms look like," Touya wondered out loud. He didn't feel self-conscious about it until Zorua looked directly at him and barked what was probably some sort of comment on the matter.

"Um," Touya began, because he had no idea what Zorua was saying. He knew that he shouldn't blame himself for it, but he felt embarrassed about not being able to understand Zorua. N had said that he understood Pokemon not by interpreting their words, but by paying attention to the meaning behind them - maybe if Touya tried to do the same, he'd gain some sort of understanding.

Perhaps sensing his intentions, Zorua growled softly. Touya stared at Zorua, trying really, really hard to read anything in his expression. Zorua returned his gaze undaunted, yawning and looking generally unimpressed. Probably because Zorua could tell that Touya still had no idea what he'd said.

Touya really shouldn't have been surprised; if it was possible to learn how to talk to Pokemon, especially this easily, then it wouldn't be something that only N could do.

"Zoru?" asked Zorua, jumping off of the couch and jerking his head in the direction of one of the doors. Given what Touya had said aloud mere seconds ago and with the added help of the gesture, Touya did manage to figure out what Zorua was asking.

Touya shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't want to go back there without N's permission." Zorua blinked, as if not expecting that response, and then hopped back up on the couch and resumed his former position. The Pokemon made some more cryptic sounds before settling down and closing his eyes, evidently done with the conversation. Which, given Touya's inability to actually understand him, was perfectly reasonable.

After a couple minutes of trying to entertain himself with his thoughts alone, which wasn't exactly a scintillating exercise, Touya was considering taking a look at some of the books. He moved to stand up but, hearing the elevator door open, stopped and sat back down. N entered the room, and Touya thought that he looked a bit tired - either due to the conversation he'd just finished up or due to simple lack of sleep. Both options were pretty likely, actually.

N spotted Touya and Zorua fairly quickly, his serious expression brightening somewhat upon doing so. Once he'd gotten close enough to the couch, Zorua stood up and jumped into N's arms; given the ease with which N caught the Pokemon, it was obvious that the behaviour wasn't anything new. Zorua wiggled around a bit until he was looking up at N, and then he growled softly, communicating something that Touya couldn't puzzle out. Whatever it was, it was evidently a good thing, because it made N smile slightly.

As N sat down, Touya considered asking him about what Zorua had told him. But he was kind of worried that that might seem too intrusive. Besides, if he asked about Zorua, then he might get sidetracked and forget to ask about something that he was more interested in. Namely, what that argument had been about.

Which, if he were being honest, was a question that still pretty much fell under the umbrella of topics that made him sound nosy. But he was also a member of Team Plasma and, in addition to that, he did feel at least somewhat justified in asking about matters that concerned N. And if N didn't want to talk about it, then that was okay; he'd just drop the subject.

"I apologize for making you wait."

Touya immediately shook his head. "You were busy. I'm, um, sorry for interrupting." He might have already apologized once, but it bore repeating again.

"It was an accident," N said. "You have nothing to apologize for." Touya wasn't really sure why, but he'd just noticed that neither of them ever acknowledged that the other had anything to apologize for.

"If it's okay, could you tell me what that man was talking to you about?" Touya asked.

"Information arrived a few days ago regarding the orbs, but it was unverified until this morning," N began. Touya couldn't see an immediate connection between his question and N's answer, but he knew that if N didn't want to answer, he'd probably just say so.

"What was the information?" Touya asked, interested by the prospect of learning more about the orbs.

N frowned - Touya thought he maybe looked frustrated, but he couldn't tell to what extent. "The government has the orbs. Which is, unfortunately, all we know. It is still unclear as to what the government plans to do with them. Sebrat, the head of intelligence and the man whom you saw engage me in conversation, did not wish to wait to discover the government's motives. But his plan involved exposing several agents to unnecessary risks, and I overruled him."

That was a lot of information for Touya to digest in such a short amount of time. He didn't even need to be told that the government's gaining possession of the orbs did not bode well - but since the government's plans were still unknown, they must not have used the orbs for anything yet. So, it could be worse; instead of having two enormous dragons on their side, the government just had two currently useless orbs.

It was perhaps the wrong thing to be focusing on, but N's comment about Sebrat being the head of intelligence had made Touya realize that he knew next to nothing about Team Plasma's structure. He could guess that there were various departments and therefore different heads, but other than the one he'd just learned about, he couldn't name any specifics. He resolved to find out more about the organization's hierarchy later.

"Does he always argue with you?" He'd asked the question without thinking about it, and now he was worried that N might think it rude.

Instead, N nodded, not seeming terribly bothered by the question. "Usually," he answered lightly. "But if he agreed with everything that I proposed, then he wouldn't be a very effective department head." It wasn't a point that would have ever occurred to Touya. "Though he isn't often so irate," N added as an afterthought, almost as an apology.

"I - I know that you don't have any real information," Touya started, backtracking a little in terms of topics, "but do you have any theories about why the government would want the orbs, besides not wanting anyone else to have them?"

"At first, I thought that that was the reason why they were after them," he admitted. "But it seems now that they may attempt to awaken Reshiram and Zekrom."

"Is that possible? I mean," Touya stopped for a second, gathering his thoughts, "they've been asleep for a while."

"You're right. There is no guarantee that they'll ever wake up at all. Even if it were possible to awaken them, it isn't clear how one would go about doing so."

Touya blinked. "The legend doesn't say how?"

"No." N looked as if he was considering something. "This is pure speculation, but I believe that it might be related to how Reshiram and Zekrom were said to have been created - in the tale, they responded to the two brothers' beliefs and split into two distinct beings. Perhaps the dragons each need a person with strong beliefs in order to awaken."

Touya thought that N's idea seemed pretty plausible, although it wasn't as if he had a basis of comparison. How to wake up slumbering dragon types wasn't exactly a problem he regularly came across.

He wondered what kind of person the dragons would respond to. Obviously, strong beliefs would be needed, but did those beliefs have to be good ones? He didn't want to think that the legendary Pokemon would aid someone - someone like Crane - regardless of morality.

He thought that it might be better if the dragons just continued to sleep.

Touya was about to ask what N thought about this, but he suddenly remembered what had happened with Cheren yesterday. He hadn't thought at all about how to bring up the topic with N - and he had to, because N had a right to know - and now he was scrambling for a good way to do so. He could always wait until later, but he disliked the idea of withholding the information.

Which meant that delaying wasn't going to be an option.

* * *

**A/N:** The name Sebrat comes from the Czech 'to gather' (as in gathering information). Poor guy doesn't get a first name because he's not important enough for that.

If you're wondering what Zorua tells N, it will (probably) come up later. It isn't that important, though.


	34. Gratitude

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 31: Gratitude -**

"Do you remember me telling you about Cheren? The friend I asked you about for advice?" Touya didn't know if he'd actually mentioned Cheren's name when he'd asked N his opinion on him, so the clarification was probably necessary.

N nodded. "Yes, I remember." If he was confused by the abrupt change in topic, he didn't show it.

Touya knew that his panic might not be entirely justified, but he was still pretty nervous about broaching the topic. "He knows. That we're... dating." It felt weird to say it out loud - not in a bad way, just in the sense that he was extremely unused to saying it.

Touya waited for N's reaction. Instead of looking shocked, or scandalized, or anything even remotely offended, N just blinked, like this news was unexpected but not exactly earth-shattering. Which it really wasn't.

Touya had to admit that he had probably been a little pessimistic about the whole thing.

"You told him?" N asked. The question wasn't accusatory in the slightest; just curious. Given Touya's shyness, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out why N would be wondering about how Cheren acquired his knowledge.

"Um, not exactly." No longer worried about how N was going to react, Touya had since returned to being vaguely embarrassed that someone had found out so quickly. "He figured it out himself. I would've told him eventually, but I - I wasn't really ready." Touya suddenly realized that he hadn't asked how N felt about all of this. "It's okay that other people know, isn't it?"

"Touya," N said, their eyes meeting, "Of course it is." Extremely relieved but feeling a little self-conscious, Touya looked away from N for a moment. He reached for N's hand and clasped it gently in his own. N's skin felt cool when pressed to his - probably because Touya was embarrassed as hell at the moment and was therefore warmer than usual, but it could also be that N simply had a lower body temperature. Not that the reason particularly mattered at the moment.

Taking N's hand hadn't been a gesture that he'd really thought through, but he liked the contact and N seemed to have zero problems with it, and Touya hoped that it was obvious how grateful he was that N wasn't upset about someone else knowing about their relationship.

N smiled, but only for a second, as he seemed to remember something. "I will not be able to leave the building until the situation with the orbs is resolved." It was a little disappointing, but Touya couldn't really say that he was surprised. N didn't appear to leave the building much under normal circumstances, so to expect him to leave during a near crisis would be unreasonable.

"Will I still be able to see you?" He felt a little embarrassed about asking, but it was important to know just how busy N was going to be.

"Yes," N replied immediately. "I will be occupied more than usual," N backtracked, "but there isn't a reason why I would not have some free time." Touya was really glad that he'd still be able to spend time with N, but he felt bad that N wasn't going to have much free time, especially since it could be quite a while until the issue with the orbs was resolved.

"It's alright that I won't be able to leave the building?" N asked, and Touya was confused, because he didn't know why N was asking the question.

"Um, is there a reason why it wouldn't be?"

It was evidently N's turn to be confused. "You mentioned dating, earlier, and I was under the impression that this involved... going on dates, which would entail leaving this building."

Touya's eyes widened as he processed N's concerns and thought about how to respond.

He couldn't just dismiss it, because while the concern was unfounded it was obviously bothering N, which meant that it wasn't trivial and didn't deserve to be blown off. And the fact that N was worrying about this meant that he was worried about what Touya thought of him, which was something that Touya felt kind of terrible for feeling more than slightly happy about.

"N," Touya started slowly, still thinking about what he wanted to say, "We don't have to go anywhere. I'd - I'd like to go places with you, but it's fine if we don't. I just like spending time with you."

N looked - not surprised, Touya thought, but maybe something approaching a combination of stunned and extremely pleased - and like he wasn't sure what to say. But, slowly, he smiled.

* * *

Touya had chosen to stay an hour or so later than usual last night, earning him some teasing from Touko and a knowing look from Cheren, and causing him to miss dinner. Still, he was glad he'd stayed; he and N had ended up talking about random and kind of pointless topics, but he'd enjoyed it. Besides, given how busy N was inevitably going to be, it might be a while before they could sit down and just talk for a few solid hours.

Today was a day off, and for once Touya had taken advantage of this and slept in somewhat. A nearby clock on the wall read roughly half past nine, and for once Touya felt fairly well rested, despite sleeping on the couch. He shifted Oshawott, who was still fast asleep, onto a different cushion as he sat up.

Setting the blankets he'd been using aside for the moment, Touya got to his feet and walked towards the kitchen, still blinking away the sleep in his eyes. He was surprised to find Touko eating at the table with Tepig sitting complacently beside her; unless she woke up way later than usual, she should've eaten earlier.

She had out a bowl of cereal, and Touya knew that it was because anything else required too much effort. He was, however, perfectly willing to spend some time on food if it meant not having to eat cheap, sugary cereal, so he grabbed two pieces of bread.

It took him a second to realize why his search for the toaster wasn't yielding any results - while their house had a toaster, their apartment did not. Touya stared at the soft and entirely untoasted pieces of bread in his hands, blaming his memory lapse on a combination of force of habit and having just woken up.

Touko had by this point noticed that Touya was having issues with getting breakfast together. "You planning on doing anything with that bread?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"... Yes," he replied, trying to figure out if there was a way to toast bread without a toaster. Having an epiphany, he started rooting around for a pan.

"You know," Touko began, and Touya could tell that her next comment had a high chance of being made at his expense, "You're up kind of late." Having successfully located a pan, he placed it on the stovetop and turned on the flame. "You've been waking up earlier than you usually do, so I guess you've gone back to wasting the day away."

Her tone was light and teasing, but he was nonetheless just the slightest bit defensive. "At least I'm up before Cheren." He speared a single piece of bread with a fork and held it as close to the pan was possible.

Touko looked like she was about to laugh. "Cheren woke up three hours ago."

"That can't be true." Touya had never known Cheren to wake up so early - willingly, that is, because strolling into school late on a regular basis was not generally a wise choice.

"Oh, but it is," Touko responded with mock seriousness, stopping for a second to eat more of her cereal. "I'm pretty sure he was half-dead, but he left to go see Bianca before she went off to work. Said that they had something to talk about."

Having successfully toasted the piece of bread he was holding, Touya switched it out for the other one. "Did he say what it was?" he asked, though he pretty much knew the answer already. Regardless, he thought that maybe Touko might have been able to guess why Cheren felt the need to talk to Bianca so early in the morning.

"No, he didn't," Touko replied, sounding like she was still a little annoyed that Cheren hadn't told her - which wasn't terribly reasonable, because it probably wasn't that important and she couldn't expect Cheren to explain his every action. "But I think it probably has to do with that anti-government stuff. Because, otherwise, they'd just talk about it here."

"That's probably it," Touya agreed. It was a sound theory, after all, because even though they both knew what Cheren and Bianca were up to, they didn't know any specifics, and Touya could understand Cheren not wanting to discuss plans in front of people who weren't involved.

Touya clicked off the stove, grabbed a knife and some butter from the fridge, and sat down at the kitchen table across from Touko. "Touya," Touko said seriously, her change in tone most likely signaling a change in topic, "I'm really glad that you're not involved in what Cheren and Bianca are doing."

"Why?" Touya blurted out before he could really think.

"Because I'd be worried about you," Touko replied almost immediately, her tone implying that this should have been pretty obvious.

"Oh," Touya replied, a little shocked - not by the fact that Touko felt that way, but because she'd brought it up almost completely out of the blue. Even though his response wasn't exactly eloquent, he knew that Touko would be able to understand that he was grateful that she cared enough to worry about him.

He wished that he could reassure her that he was never, ever going to be involved in anything remotely illegal, but he couldn't lie to her like that.

He focused intently on buttering his toast and tried to ignore how guilty he felt.

* * *

**A/N:** Evidently, the whole 'toast bread over a pan' thing does work, though I haven't tried it.

Just in case people forgot (because I think this was ~20 chapters ago), when Touya refers to asking N about Cheren, he's talking about when he asked N's opinion on whether he thought that Cheren might be involved in anti-government activity. And he's right in wondering if he mentioned Cheren by name, because he didn't actually do so.

The reason why Touko's eating at this hour is because it's her second meal of the day (she's just really hungry, I guess). This ended up not being mentioned in the story, so it's here in case anyone was curious.


	35. Too Much Time

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 32: Too Much Time -**

After his somewhat disheartening conversation with Touko, Touya had wandered back over to the couch, cleaned off all of the materials he'd used to sleep, and gently woken up Oshawott. Touko had left the apartment with Tepig soon after finishing her cereal, saying that she wanted to walk around the city a bit.

Touya was sitting on the couch, wondering what to do with his time. He definitely planned on stopping by the Team Plasma headquarters later - not to visit N, because he'd just seen him and even though it would be really nice to see him again, Touya didn't want to be a nuisance - but to take another class. He kind of wanted to go now, but he was still a little sleepy, and he wanted to be at his best when in the classroom.

He was also curious about what Cheren had gotten up so early to talk to Bianca about, and since Cheren had already been out for a couple of hours, he was sure that he'd be coming back soon. He didn't think that Cheren would be willing to explain entirely, but he might be willing to say just a bit. Though his usual reticence might have been why he hadn't told Touko, Touya knew that Cheren was also still upset at the stunt she'd pulled the other day with his laptop, which might've had a hand in things. So it wasn't unreasonable to think that Cheren might be a little bit more open with him until he decided to forgive Touko.

Touya felt like being productive, and whenever he felt a combination of productive and bored, he usually defaulted to cleaning or organizing things, which was exactly why he was now heading to the kitchen. Touko had neglected to put the cereal box back, so he figured that he'd start with making sure that everything was in its proper place. Oshawott entered the kitchen; seeing Touya with the box of cereal, he whimpered and gave Touya a pathetic look. Caving almost immediately, Touya tossed Oshawott a piece of cereal. Oshawott padded over to the table and sat down next to it, watching Touya.

He'd wanted to properly close the box before putting it away, but noticed with a note of resignation that the lid of the box had been mauled open, to the point where nothing even resembling a way of closing it was left. It wasn't even necessarily impatience that led to Touko partially destroying things that she wanted open, it was just that she was actually terrible at opening things in general, so that it was a long established rule that anything that required a sharp object to open was handled exclusively by Touya.

Having since put the box away, he opened the fridge to look around. It was in much the same condition as he'd left it when he'd stocked the groceries a few days ago - a task he'd done all by himself, because Touko had been busy with something and Cheren couldn't be bothered - but looking a little emptier, and a slightly less organized now that people had had a couple days to rummage through it. He wouldn't need to get groceries for a few weeks; he'd made sure to get enough to last them a while, even with Cheren staying.

This thought brought up something that hadn't occurred to him before. Now that Touya really thought about it, he realized that Cheren had been staying with them for over two weeks. His time on leave had to be almost up. He hadn't said anything about having to go back to Snowpoint - or to wherever he was going to end up this time - but if he gave notice at all, it would probably be at the last minute.

Touya had mixed feelings about Cheren leaving. He was glad that Cheren finally had the time to take a break and visit, because even though Cheren wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, he and Touya were friends and Touya had missed him. At the same, though, sleeping on the couch wasn't exactly fun, and he really, really wanted his room back, especially by this point.

Still, if he had to pick someone who wasn't a family member to temporarily live with, he could do much worse. In a weird sort of way, he'd almost gotten used to having Cheren around; after all, Cheren had joined them only a week or so after he and Touko had started living in the apartment, meaning that he'd been living with them longer than they'd been living alone together.

Touya hastily shut the refrigerator door, just now realizing that it had been open while he'd been zoning out. He was debating making sure that the cabinets weren't a mess, but he heard a knock on the door before he could even stand up. There was really only one possibility for who it could be - Touko had a card key and Bianca was at work.

He couldn't help but wonder why Cheren was only returning just now, as he'd left in time to catch Bianca before she went to work. Since Bianca hated being late, she probably wouldn't have let Cheren keep her past the start of work, meaning that Cheren had been out for a good three hours or so longer than was really necessary. Cheren had probably gotten sidetracked by something in the city, and Touya was curious about the kind of thing that was capable of keeping Cheren outside.

Touya got up and followed behind Oshawott, who'd already started heading towards the front of the apartment. He opened the door and stepped aside as Cheren entered, shutting the door somewhat harshly behind him.

Touya wasn't able to even get out a quick 'hello' before Cheren turned to face him and said, "We're going to Bianca's right after her work is over." His eyes were hard, which was pretty typical for him, but there was something else that made Touya think that he might be upset. Servine, perched on Cheren's shoulder, looked, as far as Touya could tell, rather impassive, though her tail was flicking back and forth.

"W-why?" Touya stammered, a little taken aback. He couldn't think of anything that warranted visiting Bianca as soon as possible. The biggest thing he'd done recently was to tell Cheren about his relationship with N, but Cheren had taken the information just fine at the time, so that couldn't be it. And as far as he knew, Bianca hadn't done anything. Even if she had, though, there'd be no reason for Cheren to drag him into it.

"You'll find out when we get there," Cheren answered, sounding like he really didn't want to answer any of Touya's questions at the moment. He started heading towards the bedrooms.

"Wait," Touya said, and to his credit Cheren stopped and turned around despite clearly wanting to retreat to his room. "Is it alright if I leave? I'll come back before six," Touya added hastily, seeing Cheren's expression. He normally wouldn't have bothered asking Cheren's opinion on him leaving because it really wasn't any of his business, but he seemed on edge and Touya didn't want to push him further.

"... I'd prefer that you didn't," Cheren added carefully, sounding maybe slightly less annoyed than he had moments before. He then turned back around and continued towards his room, leaving Touya standing in the main room alone with Oshawott, wondering just what he was going to do until Bianca got off work.

All that he could think of doing was to go back to the kitchen, but he had to admit that there really wasn't anything for him to do there - he'd just been bored. Which he was now, but his earlier feeling of productivity had since ebbed, giving way to a rather useless sense of boredom instead of anything helpful.

He didn't used to have this problem. Back when he was in school, he'd get home, get his homework and chores out of the way, and enjoy the free time that he had. But he'd grown familiar with having less time spent at home - between work and going to the Team Plasma building, and the fact that he'd started to go to bed earlier to compensate for his earlier wake up time, he'd had less time to fill. And now he was having trouble deciding what to do with it.

He'd read all of the books he'd brought with him before, and he didn't feel comfortable rooting around in Touko's room for new reading material, so he settled down on the couch with Oshawott. He turned on the television and found that it was on one of the news channels. The newscaster was in the middle of segueing into discussing the weather, and there was a bar on the bottom scrolling a message regarding an upcoming announcement. Touya didn't wait around to read all of it and started flipping through the channels.

He really did want to go by the Team Plasma headquarters, but Cheren had said that he didn't want him to leave. Maybe he was worried that Touya would run off and stay out late enough so that meeting with Bianca would be impossible. Touya couldn't bring himself to feel offended, though. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd avoided something by running away, and at least Cheren trusted him enough to not watch him. It'd be extremely simple for Touya to just waltz out the door without even alerting Cheren to his leaving.

There didn't seem to be anything remotely interesting on. Though, this being the afternoon, it wasn't terribly surprising. He didn't even need to find something fascinating, just a show that would hold the barest minimum of his interest. Because he really didn't have any better ideas, he placed the remote in front of Oshawott, as it was too large for the Pokemon to hold easily.

"Can you pick a channel?" he asked, ignoring the feeling that he might very well have just hit a new low, and Oshawott blinked, probably wondering why Touya was leaving it up to him. But he quickly grinned and, looking at the television with a rather determined expression, started channel surfing. Oshawott settled on what looked to be a made-for-TV movie.

Touya was about to ask why he'd chosen it - it was obvious propaganda, with rows of glorified Unova soldiers dressed in impeccable uniforms facing down the 'evil' but nameless enemy - but then he noticed that the movie was currently showing a battle. Oshawott was watching each Pokemon's movements intently, eyes flicking back and forth as he tracked the battle's progress.

Touya hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep until he jerked awake. His first thought was that the couch was moving, but it quickly became apparent that it was only one of the cushions being pressed on. The movement stopped after Touya opened his eyes, and Touya saw Cheren standing about half a foot away.

"It's time to go."

* * *

**A/N:** Besides myself, I've never seen someone wake people up the way Cheren does, but I assume that it's not completely uncommon. It's just as effective as touching someone but without the actual touching, which makes it pretty fabulous in my book.


	36. Defense

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 33: Defense -**

Still waking up, Touya checked the clock. It was ten minutes until Bianca got off work; if they left now, they'd arrive shortly after she would. Touya sat up, feeling significantly less tired - which was probably a good thing, seeing as he'd spent most of his day sleeping. He got to his feet, turned off the television, and picked up Oshawott.

He followed Cheren over to the door and was in the middle of putting on his shoes when Touko wandered out from the back hallway.

"Are you going to see Bianca?" she guessed. She walked closer to both of them, causing Cheren to take a small step backwards.

"Yes," Touya answered, exactly the same time as Cheren responded with a firm 'no'. They both looked at each other, Touya confused and Cheren wearing the facial equivalent of a facepalm. They then turned to look at Touko, who was understandably not terribly thrilled with the responses she'd received.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at Cheren for an explanation. Cheren shrugged. "I meant yes," he replied, not seeming to care if Touko believed him or not. Touko frowned in frustration, eyes narrowing.

"No, you didn't. Look, if you don't want me to know where you're going, fine, but don't lie to me about it." Having since put on his shoes, Touya joined Cheren by the door. He half-expected him to just open it and walk out, but for now Cheren was staying put.

Cheren looked her in the eyes. "You can't come, so knowing the destination will only make you upset."

"That's not the point!" Touko yelled, and it was obvious that Cheren was doing absolutely nothing to help the situation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I just don't like being left out. I want to know what you're doing." Touya thought that he'd like the answer to that as well.

"I can't tell you at this moment. But later isn't out of the question." Seeing the offer for what it was - Cheren giving up some ground, extending an olive branch - Touko seemed to calm down slightly.

"I'm holding you to that," Touko said warily, and Touya was reminded of what she'd said to him when he'd made a similar offer to her.

"Of course," Cheren said levelly. He turned around and opened the door, stepping outside in one fell motion. Touya quickly followed, turning only to wave goodbye to Touko and give her an apologetic smile.

Cheren's pace was brisk, and Touya wasn't having very much fun keeping up with him. People were already beginning to trickle into the streets, just having gotten off of work, and the congestion was only going to increase within the next few minutes.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Touya asked, narrowly avoiding hitting someone who had decided to come careening out of a nearby building. Cheren didn't look back at him, preferring to remain facing forwards. Which was pretty reasonable, the number of people currently swarming the street.

"No," Cheren replied, his voice somewhat muffled due to the direction he was facing. "I told you, you'll find out when we arrive." From his tone, it was clear that the topic wasn't really up for discussion, so Touya let the conversation lapse back into silence.

After roughly twenty minutes of traveling, they reached what was evidently Bianca's apartment building. It was similar to Touya's, but it looked like it had probably been around a little longer. Cheren tried the elevator, but when it failed to appear after a couple of seconds, he turned around and headed for the stairs, with Touya trailing resignedly in tow.

Once they reached the right door, Cheren knocked while Touya leaned against the wall, because ten flights of stairs was not a joke and he needed to recuperate. There was a flurry of footsteps from inside, soon followed by Bianca opening the door. Bianca stepped back, letting Cheren and Touya file in before shutting the door.

She greeted both of them, but only Touya did so in response, partly because Cheren was already halfway to the next room and Touya wasn't sure that he'd heard her.

Though he'd known it beforehand, it hadn't really hit him until now that he'd never been to Bianca's apartment before.

The layout was different from that of his own; instead of being fairly open, Bianca's had more walls, meaning that the only rooms visible from the entryway were the main room and two other rooms, both through their respective doorways - from the looks of it, one was a kitchen while the other was a sort of family room. There was a closed door off to the side, which Touya guessed led to the back, which would contain the bedroom and bathroom.

The government-provided apartments were tiny anyway, and filling them with walls didn't do the lack of space any favours, making the whole thing feel vaguely claustrophobic. It was also rather empty - not that Touya's was exactly chock full of furniture, but he thought that having more delineated rooms maybe made the lack of objects more pronounced. It was a little lonely, actually.

Touya though he understood why Touko so forcefully persisted in asking Bianca over for dinner most nights.

By the time he and Bianca got to the kitchen, Cheren had already taken the liberty of seating himself at the table. The kitchen was smaller than Touya's, as was the table - maybe it was because the apartment was only meant for a single person, though he thought that whomever had placed the furniture should have taken visitors into account. The table really was meant for only two people, as indicated by the two matching chairs, to which a third had been added.

Regardless of the intended size, he sat down, picking the odd seat out. Bianca quickly joined them, sliding into the only remaining empty seat.

Munna floated into the room; seeing her owner, she made her way over to Bianca, circling her once before settling on her head. Oshawott seemed content with his position on Touya's lap, but Servine evidently decided that sitting on Cheren's shoulder wasn't exciting enough and jumped onto the table.

Touya shifted a little in his seat; the silence was making him uncomfortable, and since Bianca seemed uneasy as well he wasn't terribly optimistic about whatever was going to happen soon, even if he had no idea what that was. He assumed that Cheren was probably going to do most of the talking, so he waited a few seconds.

When no one spoke, Touya tentatively ventured, "Why am I here?"

This seemed to annoy Cheren, who had since taken to rapping his fingers against the table. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me about N?" Cheren asked, and Touya immediately froze.

"... Like what?" he asked, barely getting the words out.

"Oh, I don't know," Cheren replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, "Maybe the fact that he's involved in rebel activity?"

"How - how did you -" Touya stuttered before he could catch himself. Cheren shouldn't have known - he'd never even met N, so there should be no way for him to know.

"He used codewords," Bianca explained, cutting in before Cheren could reply. "Back when we met at your apartment. I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she apologized, turning to Touya. "But I - I thought that you probably didn't know, and so you might not want to know, or that it might be dangerous for you. But then when Cheren arrived, I meant to tell him, and I - I forgot." The last statement was punctuated by a badly concealed sniffle, and Touya was worried that Bianca was about to cry. He was terrible at handling crying people, and Cheren generally made everything worse when it came to tears, so he was about to say something, but Cheren beat him to it.

"At least you told me eventually." Which was about as forgiving and reassuring as Cheren got. Cheren turned from facing Bianca to facing Touya, and Touya shrunk a little into his seat. "It's obvious that you were aware of this before we told you." Touya nodded, though it was largely unnecessary. "Then why didn't you tell us?"

"I..." He realized that he didn't quite have the answer. Obviously, what N was doing did need to be kept a secret, but Cheren and Bianca were in a similar position - a position that N was aware of. It might not be feasible to tell Touko, but telling Cheren and Bianca was not at all unreasonable.

When he'd first met N, he hadn't told anyone about what he'd seen because he didn't want to endanger himself or the people he knew. But it had become quickly apparent that this wasn't a concern that he had to entertain, meaning that he really had no excuse.

Though, maybe it wasn't so much that he didn't have an excuse, but more that he had an irrational one. "I wanted to protect him." Even if, with Bianca and Cheren, there was really nothing to protect him from - and, really, N didn't need to be protected, anyway - but he'd wanted to minimize the risk to N as much as possible.

"You don't think we're safe to tell?" Cheren asked, bristling at the perceived jab.

"That isn't it," Touya insisted. It hadn't occurred to him that his words could be taken negatively, but he could see now how Cheren could jump to the wrong conclusion. "It doesn't make sense, but I just -"

"So it isn't logical," Cheren cut in, seeming to consider it as a point. "Is this because of your..." Cheren trailed off, trying to find a tactful way to phrase the end of question, "... friendship with him?"

"That's part of it," he admitted. True, it was a rather large part of it, though he might very well have ended up telling them earlier if one of them had decided to ask - if Touko hadn't so determinedly poked and prodded him for answers regarding Cheren and Bianca, then Touya might never have told their secret.

Cheren, at least, seemed mostly satisfied with the answer, but Bianca still seemed confused. "But, we're your friends, too." Which was a perfectly reasonable point to make if one wasn't aware of everything that was going on.

"That's true, but -" Touya floundered for a way to define his relationship with N without actually really doing so, leading to an awkward pause as his mind worked.

Cheren, evidently deciding that he was better equipped to explain, said, "Their friendship is somewhat different." Though the feeling was probably hypocritical of him, Touya thought that Cheren could have come up with a much better explanation, because that one was extremely vague.

"Different..." Bianca murmured, trying to make sense of the horrendously ambiguous wording. "Um, is this something I'm not supposed to know about?" Touya cringed a little, because even though the question wasn't accusing, he still felt bad that it had to be asked.

"I promise I'll tell you later," Touya said. Bianca looked like she wanted to question him further, but she only nodded and dropped the subject.

"Can we please get back to the topic at hand?" Cheren asked dryly, clearly not finding the topic of Touya's relationship with N terribly scintillating. Touya wasn't sure what more there was to talk about, but he had the feeling that Cheren was about get pretty probing with his questions.

* * *

**A/N:** You know when Bianca says that she forgot entirely about N using code with her? That's because _I_ completely forgot about it. For some reason, it didn't occur to me until a few weeks ago that if N could tell what Bianca was up to, then Bianca should be able to do the same.

If something major like this ever goes unaddressed for a really long amount of time, and it isn't mentioned in the notes or anything, then you are absolutely free to bug me about it. If it's something I'm saving for later, no harm done, but if it's something I've missed, then you've saved me from screwing up.


	37. An Interrogation (Of Sorts)

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 34: An Interrogation (Of Sorts) -**

"How long have you known about N?" Cheren asked, leaning forward and settling his elbows on the table. Servine moved a couple inches to the side to accommodate her trainer.

"I found out soon after I first met him."

"How did you find out?"

"He told me." Which was entirely true, but without the background to go along with it, it didn't make much sense. For a person to tell a near stranger about their highly illegal activities for no reason was pretty strange.

"Why would he tell you so soon after you met?" Cheren immediately followed up with, clearly suspicious.

"He trusted me?" Touya offered weakly, the excuse being the first that had come to mind. It was actually somewhat true - N could have just as easily left him alone or refused to tell him anything about what Touya had seen in the Team Plasma building.

Though Touya could have gone to the police, he'd heard just the other day about the safeguards that the building had in place; given the fact that the claim was mildly ridiculous and resources were often stretched to their limits, the investigation that would have resulted would have been cursory at best, and wouldn't have really been much of a threat.

And then there was N asking him to join Team Plasma. Given N's character, it wasn't going to be an offer he'd casually throw out, meaning that it had to have meant something.

"That's an awful lot of trust to have for someone you've just met," Cheren remarked dubiously. Touya opened his mouth to try and somehow justify this, but, unexpectedly, Bianca spoke up before he had the chance to do so.

"Cheren, I don't think this matters. You told me this morning you wanted to find out about what N was doing, and I don't see how this relates to that." Cheren seemed to consider this point.

"I may have gotten slightly sidetracked," he conceded, though he didn't sound very sorry about it. Touya smiled gratefully at Bianca. "What does N do?" Cheren asked.

"Um, what?" Touya asked, wincing internally at how nervous he sounded.

Servine slapped the table with her tail at the exact same moment that Cheren started tapping his fingers against the same piece of furniture. It seemed to be a sign of impatience in both instances, and it was actually slightly creepy how synchronized it was.

"What does he _do_? If he's part of an organization, what is his position?"

"Um. I - I don't know." Admitting that N was involved in anti-government activity was one thing; telling Cheren and Bianca that he was the leader of an entire organization was most certainly another. Touya needed to run this by N before he'd feel even remotely comfortable telling someone else that information.

"He didn't tell you?" Touya shook his head. Cheren seemed to be considering whether to believe him or not.

"You haven't told me any specifics about what you're doing," Touya pointed out. Cheren blinked and stopped tapping the table.

"I suppose that's valid." Touya was actually somewhat flattered to hear that - Cheren could have made the objection that he didn't trust Touya enough to tell him, which, since Touya had already mentioned that N trusted him, would have potentially made for a solid point.

There was a pause as Cheren thought. "I don't have any more questions at the moment. Though I would like to meet N before I leave."

"Touya, are you going to tell Touko about N?" Bianca asked. Touya was a little disappointed that he'd lost the opportunity to ask Cheren about when he was leaving, but he was also somewhat relieved that he didn't have to explain why N was busy and arranging a meeting might be rather difficult.

"Not right now," Touya replied, wondering why she'd asked. It should have been obvious that this was a subject that he hadn't really wanted to discuss.

"I think you should," Bianca replied stubbornly.

"I'm fairly sure we've had a similar conversation before," Cheren said dryly. "Telling people would not be a good idea." Touya very gracefully decided not to point out that Cheren had practically forced him to tell them about N.

"You'll tell her eventually?" Bianca asked. Touya nodded; it wasn't something he wanted to keep from her forever.

Cheren stood up. "As long as there aren't any other secrets you're keeping from us, I believe that we should go."

Touya got to his feet, shaking his head at the first part of Cheren's statement. He could have mentioned that he was learning how to battle and privy to certain government intelligence, but doing so would have put him at risk of revealing N's position. Cheren wasn't an idiot, and if he found out that Touya was also involved in rebel activities, then he'd put two and two together and figure out that he had to be in the same organization as N, exposing Touya's earlier lie.

Touya wanted to object - it seemed rude to barge into Bianca's apartment only to leave immediately after they were done discussing what Cheren had wanted to - but if they didn't get back soon, then that would only make the situation with Touko worse.

Bianca got up as well, presumably to show them to the door. When they were about half way there, Touya realized that he could solve this dilemma by just asking if Bianca wanted to come over for dinner. He'd mitigate Cheren's rudeness, and in a way that wouldn't make Touko upset. Having Bianca over might even cheer her up.

Now at the door, Touya turned to face Bianca. "Do you want to come over for dinner?"

She seemed mildly surprised. "I don't think so. But thank you for asking," she replied, smiling faintly.

"Are - are you sure?"

She nodded, opening the door. "It was nice seeing both of you."

For once, Touya would have liked just some of Touko's pushiness.

* * *

By the time Touya and Cheren arrived back at the apartment, the time had grown fairly late - later than Touya had been expecting when he'd agreed to go to Bianca's with Cheren, at least. Though he should have known that it wouldn't have exactly been a quick jaunt over to Bianca's, given that it was a forty minute round trip even at a reasonably brisk walking pace.

The first thing Touya noticed upon entering the main room was that he could smell food. Which was confusing at first, because it was Touya's night to make dinner, but he figured that Touko had probably gotten tired of waiting and had gone ahead and fixed something for herself.

So he was confused again when he and Cheren wandered into the kitchen, only to see that Touko was scraping something out of a pan and onto three plates. Not only had she made food for all of them, but she'd actually put some effort into it as opposed to simply making pasta or something equally simple.

"Sit down," Touko said distractedly, focusing on not spilling anything. It looked like she'd made some sort of vegetable stir fry. As it was something that, to his knowledge, she'd never made before, he was a little worried about how it was going to taste. But, really, it was the thought that counted, and she'd managed not to start a fire, so she was already doing better than last time.

Touya obeyed Touko's request, and Cheren followed soon after, though after a moment of hesitation. He was probably wondering why Touko had actually made something. Even though it was uncharacteristic of her, Touya thought that it was very likely because of what had happened earlier that afternoon - while Touko hadn't been in the wrong, she probably still wanted to make some sort of peace offering, even if that offering took the form of a rather questionable vegetable stir fry.

Touko picked up the plates and joined them both at the table.

"Thanks for making this," Touya said. Even though he was pretty sure that most of the vegetables were slightly burnt, he did mean it - she didn't have to make anything, so he really did appreciate the gesture.

"Sure." Though the reply seemed blase, the indifference was somewhat undercut when Touko smiled. Touya waited for Cheren to thank Touko as well; even though Cheren sometimes forgot that thanking people was something that usually needed to happen, Touya was sure that it would occur to him this time considering how unusual the situation was.

He was, unfortunately, wrong, and the next few minutes were filled mainly with silence and Cheren wrinkling his nose every time he took a bite. At least he had enough sense not to comment on the vegetables' burntness, though for someone who literally never cooked anything, ever, he was being awfully picky.

Usually Touko would be chatting up a storm - basically all of their dinners for the past few weeks had consisted of Touko doing most of the talking, with Cheren and Touya occasionally chiming in - but she wasn't saying much of anything now. Touya thought that it might be because she didn't want to ask about where they'd been.

There were, of course, other topics of conversation, but maybe Touko was still preoccupied with the one she'd decided not to talk about. Either way, there was a lot of silence going on, and Touya wasn't a fan of it.

"When are you leaving?" Touya asked, looking at Cheren. The question not only broke the silence, but would also hopefully lead to the answer that Touya had been curious about.

Cheren glanced to the side, as if he were debating whether to answer the question or not. "I don't have an exact date yet, but it'll most likely be within a week."

"That isn't a lot of time," Touya said slowly. He'd anticipated that time frame, but to actually hear it from Cheren was a different matter.

"I've been here for two weeks."

"But you've been gone for over six months," Touko immediately rejoined.

"I doubt you'll miss me." Touya knew that modesty wasn't the reason Cheren had said it. Not just because Cheren and modesty rarely had anything to do with each other, but because the tone he'd used was the one he used when stating a fact.

"You know we're going to. Even though you're the most infuriating person I know." Touya took it as a good sign that Touko was up to teasing Cheren; it at least meant that she'd cooled down a little since that morning.

"Thanks," Cheren responded flatly, though Touya didn't miss his mouth twitching in the barest of grins.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm actually kind of sad that Cheren's going to be leaving. _ I knew from the beginning that he'd have to go back to his job eventually, but I haven't had to deal with that fact until recently. Even after he's left, though, he'll probably still be included in some fashion, such as through letters and so on.


	38. More to the Story

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 35: More to the Story -**

Over the past three days, Touya had barely been able to see N at all. They'd met for a few minutes - once for half an hour - but that had been it. Touya had spent most of time at the Team Plasma headquarters in the classroom rather than with N. He felt kind of terrible for complaining, even if it was only to himself, but the situation with the orbs was pretty awful for everyone involved. Except for government, which just made it worse for everyone else.

He had gotten a practice battle in on Tuesday against one of the instructors, which had at least been a distraction from all that was going on. Oshawott had seemed to like it, and Touya had felt a little more like he actually knew what he was doing. Oshawott still hadn't learned any new moves, though, and Touya was looking forward to the day when his Pokemon could do more than ram into things and wag his tail.

Nothing really out of the ordinary had happened - Cheren was still shutting himself up in the apartment, for instance - but Touya had the feeling that this wasn't going to go on forever. Things hadn't been exactly normal since coming to Castelia, after all.

Work had just finished, and Touya had made a quick trip back to the apartment to pick up Oshawott before heading on to headquarters. He no longer waited before entering; unlike before, there was no one within the lobby. Touya had figured that it was largely unnecessary for someone to meet him there - not only was it slightly embarrassing, but he was already familiar with the floors he'd be going to most often.

He'd mentioned it to N, and since then no one had met him in the lobby. It made him feel more like a normal member - more like he actually belonged, and wasn't there just because he knew N.

He got in the elevator and went to the first classroom floor. There was a screen near the elevator listing the day's schedule. Touya and Oshawott both peered closely at the list, and Touya was a little dismayed to realize that the next class wasn't for a couple of hours, and therefore well past dinner.

He could just leave and return to the apartment, but he felt like that would be kind of a waste considering that he was already here. After waffling for a few seconds as to what he should do, Touya finally decided to head to the library.

Upon entering the library, the first thing he noticed was the computers, and he was immediately reminded of the fact that he still didn't have an account. While he definitely understood the rationale behind not having a guest account available for anyone to use, he did kind of wish that there was some way for him to access the team's database until he remembered to ask for access.

Which meant that he still couldn't use the computer to search for book titles, or any other information, for that matter. But there weren't many other places in the building he could or wanted to go, so he found the battle section and started casually scanning the shelves.

The problem was that a good majority of the books were either extremely basic - one dealt entirely with explaining the different types, and Touya was baffled as to how someone was capable of writing a three-hundred page book based on that information alone - or sounded pretty boring, or way beyond his level. He'd come across a book that consisted entirely of math as it related to Pokemon battles, and while he was sure that it most likely was fairly useful, there was no way he'd be able to memorize all of them. Though he wouldn't really be surprised if N knew them all by heart.

The only other section that Touya could think of that might be interesting was fiction. It took him a few minutes to locate it; in regards to the other sections, it was fairly small, though it still looked as if it had a decent array of books to choose from.

Unlike the battle section, several books stood out to him. He plucked one of these out, almost at random. It was a book on Unova folk tales, and as he flipped through the table of contents, Touya came across both stories that he was familiar with - such as the tale of Reshiram and Zekrom - and stories that he'd never seen before. Whether this was due to censorship or mere obscurity, he didn't know.

He wished that he could take the book home with him so that he could read every story it contained, but none of the library books were allowed out of the building. Though this restriction made sense - as competent as the other members seemed to be, lending out banned materials was an unnecessary risk - he would've liked to read at his own leisure.

Touya was tempted to just slide down against the shelves and start reading right there, and he might very well have had Oshawott not started dancing around and pointing enthusiastically at the book Touya was holding.

"Do you want me to read this to you?" Touya asked, making sure to keep his voice low. Even though there were no signs requesting silence, there wasn't really a lot of talking going on, and he wasn't about to be the one to start. Besides, libraries always had that 'talk and you'll ruin the mood' sort of feeling to them.

Oshawott nodded, and Touya went off towards the back to look for a closed reading room where he could read out loud and not disturb anyone. He eventually located one, knocked to make sure that it was empty, and then went on in and closed the door.

The room was small, with colours borrowed from the rest library. A light grey carpet had been paired with pale blue walls, making for a somewhat tranquil effect. The colours were actually very similar to Unova's national colours - all the room needed was a dash of faded yellow - though Touya thought that this was probably unintentional.

He was feeling almost nostalgic about reading a story to Oshawott, as it was something he hadn't done for a while. Oshawott seemed to be able to read basic words, and he wasn't generally interested in anything too complicated, meaning that he was capable of reading most of the things he wanted to.

Touya started with the first story of the book; even though there wasn't any need to go in order, there was still a part of him that liked the neatness that came with starting at the beginning.

After a while, he'd gone through about a third of the book, and he was beginning to feel like it was about time to wrap things up. With no sort of clock around, he didn't have an idea of how long he'd been in there, but he planned on heading back after reading the next story - the story of Reshiram and Zekrom. Being fairly simple, the story was rather short, and it was pretty much the same as Touya remembered.

Until he came to the middle of the story. Touya checked to make sure that he hadn't somehow skipped to a different story - because, as far as he knew, Kyurem was not supposed to be featured in the tale of the two brothers.

Oshawott looked to the side, making an inquisitive sort of noise, probably in response to Touya having stopped reading aloud. Touya decided that he might as well continue.

"And so the splitting of the two dragons, Reshiram and Zekrom, created a third being, Kyurem. Reshiram and Zekrom flew to the aid of the two brothers, leaving Kyurem behind. Without the powerful emotions of the two dragons, Kyurem was but an empty shell." He read on until he'd come to the end, and then softly closed the book, committing the name of the story he'd left off on to memory in case he wanted to return to the book at a later date.

Touya had no idea why the few lines concerning Kyurem would have been left out of all the versions he'd heard. The only thing he could think of was that they'd been removed because they dealt with Kyurem, and Kyurem was inevitably tied to Sedia Crane. N hadn't mentioned Kyurem when he'd brought up the story, but he'd only mentioned it in the first place to make sure that Touya knew about Reshiram and Zekrom - it wasn't as if he'd gone and summarized it.

Either way, it didn't seem terribly important, but he thought that it was at least somewhat interesting. But, at the same time, it was also kind of sad - as terrifying as Kyurem was, even from behind a television screen, it definitely seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick. Though that was, of course, assuming that the story was more than just a mere folk tale.

Touya poked his head out of the doorway to take a look at the time, and he went from contemplative to distressed in no time flat. It was almost fifteen minutes past seven. Quickly locating the book's former location, he slid it into place and then practically ran out of the library.

* * *

Touya half-stumbled into the apartment, nearly out of breath and feeling ridiculous for so completely losing track of time. He was expecting some sort of greeting from Cheren or Touko, and so he was pretty confused when his entrance was instead met with silence.

He took a quick look around the apartment, and, coming to the conclusion that no one was home, he went into the kitchen. There weren't any dishes in the sink, which pointed to Cheren and Touko having eaten somewhere else. They'd probably gone out to eat after he hadn't returned. While it wasn't exactly a fantastic feeling to know that his late arrival had been taken as an opportunity to go out to dinner, he couldn't exactly blame them.

As he was opening the fridge to see what there was to eat, he heard the door open. Abandoning dinner for the moment, he exited the kitchen.

"Touya!" Touko exclaimed, running over to him. "Where were you?"

"Well, I was -" Touya was stopped mid-sentence by the phone ringing. He would have picked up where he'd left off, except Touko was already halfway to the phone in the time it had taken him to register what was happening. For reasons Touya had never quite understood, she loved answering the phone, and since it meant that he didn't have to answer, it was certainly fine by him.

"Were you expecting a call?" Cheren asked as Touko picked up the phone. Touya shook his head.

Touya saw Touko grin, and she practically pranced over to where he was standing. "It's for you!" she announced, and Touya took the phone, albeit with some confusion. "It's N," Touko stage-whispered, though it was quite intentionally loud enough for Cheren to hear.

As glad as he was that he was going to be to talk with N, when N had asked for his phone number, he'd explained that he'd most likely only use it in case of an emergency. Touya brought the phone to his ear and wondered whether he should be worried or not.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry that this chapter's kind of slow; it was pretty much for transitional/showing the passage of time purposes. And talking a little more about the Reshiram and Zekrom story, of course. The stuff about Kyurem isn't (to my knowledge) confirmed as canon, but it makes a great deal of sense, so I threw it in.


	39. Timing is Everything

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 36: Timing is Everything -**

"N? It's me, Touya." Touya cradled the phone receiver between his chin and shoulder as he set Oshawott down on the floor. Touko and Cheren had since started talking in the background - or, rather, Touko had started chattering and Cheren was occasionally speaking - and Touya wished that they would have some sense of common courtesy.

"Touya," N began, and Touya thought that he sounded perhaps somewhat rushed, "Is your television turned on?" That was honestly not what he was expecting, so it took him a second to come up with the answer.

"No. Um, should I turn it on?" Here, Touko had the gall to wolf-whistle, and Touya shot her a look that pretty accurately communicated his feeling that she really needed to quiet down. She grinned, throwing up her arms in a way that Touya thought was entirely too dramatic, gave in and stopped talking and making noise in general.

When N responded with the affirmative, Touya made his way over to the TV, grabbed the remote, and pressed the power button. Contrary to what he was expecting, Crane and her Kyurem popped up on the screen instead of a regular program. Touya was pretty sure that he hadn't heard of any scheduled announcements, but given his track record with this sort of thing, it was entirely possible that he'd just missed it.

"What's the announcement about?" Touya asked, sitting down on the couch. Cheren quickly joined him and seemed to be intently watching the TV screen, to the point where he snatched the remote from Touya's hand and turned up the volume himself.

There was a pause. Since Touya was pretty sure that N knew exactly what it was about, he figured that it was something that N couldn't talk about over the phone. Admittedly, this didn't make a great deal of sense, considering that if Crane was making an announcement about it, then it was probably okay to mention it over the phone, whether the conversation was monitored or not.

"I'll explain everything later," N assured him. "Is it possible for you to come by either later tonight or sometime tomorrow?"

"I don't think I'll be able to come tonight, but I can make it tomorrow." Since it seemed best that both of them return to watching the announcement, Touya went ahead and said goodbye, and N soon did the same. Touya hung up the phone and darted back onto the couch before too much time had elapsed.

" - and because of that, the Citizen Documentation Act has been moved to its second phase, requiring the DNA and fingerprint documentation of all Unova citizens. Children born after the implementation of the act do not have to report for documentation."

Having missed the beginning of the announcement, Touya didn't know what Crane had been referring to earlier, and with not much to go on, he couldn't really make an educated guess on the matter.

He also wasn't familiar with the act that she'd mentioned, but from the context it seemed like the official name of a law that had gone into place about seven years earlier. As soon as a child was born, its fingerprints and blood were taken and recorded. Even though it was a little creepy, it hadn't applied to him or anyone he knew, so he'd soon forgotten about it.

Which was evidently a mistake, because if he'd known that there was another part to it - namely, another part that required him and everyone he knew to undergo the same procedure - he would have paid more attention. More to the point, however, was the fact that if the announcement was so disturbing on the surface, then whatever N couldn't discuss over the phone was probably pretty horrible as well.

"Documentation will occur in only one city at a given time and will be organized into waves depending on age and gender." Touya couldn't help but find it odd that this was only happening in a single city at once - Crane was nothing if but efficient, and limiting the data collection in this manner would hamper that efficiency by a considerable margin.

"The citizens of Castelia will be the first to report for documentation. The first wave consists of males aged seven to ten, and further information will be released at all places of work tomorrow. Announcements will be made in this manner until all Castelia citizens have been catalogued." He winced just a little at the mention of being 'catalogued'; it felt too much like reducing people to a state less than human.

The announcement soon ended, and the channel returned to its scheduled programming. Again, other than it being rather chilling, there wasn't anything particularly unusual about the announcement. Crane and her Kyurem had seemed as unflappable as ever, and though Touya could see how this sort of thing would be a huge issue for an anti-government group, unless a person was unregistered, they couldn't exactly get out of it.

"That was an interesting announcement," Cheren stated, seemingly intrigued by what Crane had said.

"Interesting?" Touko asked, raising her eyebrows and folding her arms. "More like _terrifying_. Your fingerprints and DNA are going to be recorded. Everything that makes you you, in one database." Touko walked around the couch so that she could face Cheren. "Cheren, this should totally bother you!"

"I'm not saying that it doesn't," Cheren responded coolly. "It's a gross breach of personal privacy, and even if it's only used for identification purposes, collecting information regarding one's genes is asking for exploitation." Servine, whom Touya hadn't noticed before now, jumped up onto the couch. She looked like she was nodding in agreement and understanding the conversation, and Touya wondered how it was that Cheren ended up with probably the most intelligent Servine ever. "What makes it interesting is that Crane chose this particular moment to proceed to the second phase - why now? With so many away at war, surely it would be better to wait until more soldiers returned. "

"I get what you're saying, but I really think the timing is less important than the fact that we're all going to be catalogued."

Cheren shrugged off Touko's comment. "You're entitled to an opinion, but I do think that the timing shouldn't be overlooked." Touya was inclined to agree with Touko, but given N's earlier phone call, he was starting to think that Cheren might be on to something.

Touko looked like she was about to argue, but then she appeared to have a change of heart - it was pretty easy to see that she'd just switched over to a completely different train of thought.

"Was N calling about the announcement?" Touko asked. Touya immediately regretted not being a little more vague with his answers; it must have been fairly obvious as to what their conversation was about.

"Yes. He thought it was worth mentioning."

"But... why? We would've heard about this eventually."

"He might have been worried because I missed the blackout announcement." While this probably wasn't N's main motivation for calling, Touya could definitely see this as being one of his reasons. It was perfectly reasonable for someone with this kind of track record to be given the occasional reminder.

Touko seemed to accept that as an answer. "Yeah, you totally missed that one, didn't you. But I bet you enjoyed spending all that time with N, right?"

Touya let that one slide, because he'd accomplished his goal of diverting Touko's suspicion and had successfully shifted the focus from N to himself. And other than the fact that N was afraid of the dark, the time Touya had spent trapped in the elevator hadn't really been all that terrible. Not that he was going to tell that to Touko.

Touya kind of doubted that Cheren had bought his reason for why N had called, but considering the fact that Cheren knew everything - or, well, almost everything - that was relevant to the situation, it didn't really matter. If he figured it out on his own - that N hadn't just called to give Touya a friendly reminder about the announcement - which he probably would, then that was fine; if he didn't, then that was fine, too.

* * *

Having since finished work, Touya had gone straight to headquarters like he'd promised N. He entered the lobby and was immediately struck with the feeling that there was something different. It took him a second, but he noticed that a tiny, portable whiteboard had been hung up near the elevator.

On it, in what was actually rather nice handwriting, had been written, 'All top level employees, please report Conference Room F. Meeting at 10:00'. Touya was initially thrown by the 'employees' part of that sentence until he realized that writing 'members' or 'agents' would be extremely suspicious to anyone who wasn't part of Team Plasma and had just wandered in. That was also probably the reason why there wasn't a floor number given.

Anyway, the sign didn't concern him; Touya was currently an entry level member, which was most assuredly not the highest level. And since the meeting had started about eight hours ago, it had probably ended, which raised the chances of N being free to talk.

He headed up to N's floor, and he wasn't really surprised to find that N wasn't there. Whenever Touya arrived before N did, it wasn't generally long before N followed; at first, Touya had chalked this up to maybe being some sort of weird intuition that came with being really smart, but N had pointed out the last time they'd met that there were cameras throughout most of the building - one of the exceptions was N's personal floor - and that all that needed to be done to find someone was to go ask one of the security offices.

It always made Touya a little nervous when he was being watched, so it was nice to know that he wasn't under surveillance at this very moment. Government buildings had the same issue, although in that case the cameras were visible, whereas the Team Plasma cameras were miniscule and nearly impossible to spot.

Touya did what he usually did when waiting for N, a routine which consisted mostly of walking around and resisting the urge to look at the back rooms that he'd yet to see. After about ten minutes had passed, Touya finally gave up on pacing a circle into the floor and sat down. He'd get to see N eventually, and, worst case, Touya would just find someone in security and ask for his whereabouts.

* * *

**A/N:** Other Team Plasma members also got a message about the broadcast. It's just that Touya was the only one to get his from N. The reason a message didn't go out sooner is because while a broadcast was expected soon, the exact time was unknown.

If you're wondering how N could know that Touya was on his floor since there aren't any cameras on that floor - there are cameras in all of the elevators. And considering how N's floor is set up, anyone getting off at the twenty-seventh floor would have to be going into N's personal area.


	40. Imperfection

_**Skies As Grey As Battleships**_

**- Chapter 37: Imperfection -**

After another ten minutes of waiting, Touya was fully prepared to grab a security person and just ask for N's whereabouts, because at this point, it would probably be faster than simply waiting around. He was halfway to the elevator when it opened, and he instinctively stopped and backed up slightly. Expecting N, he was surprised when the elevator's only occupant was Zorua, who currently had his eyes locked on him.

Touya just stood there for a couple of seconds, and soon Zorua thwapped his tail against the floor of the elevator and made an impatient sort of noise, quickly followed by him jerking his head back. Taking the hint, Touya joined the Pokemon in the elevator.

He was in the middle of wondering just how Zorua had managed to operate the elevator when the Pokemon crouched down and suddenly sprung into the air, hit one of the buttons with his paw, and landed back on his feet. It seemed like he had a fair amount of experience with the matter.

The button that Zorua had hit was marked '22', and it was a floor that Touya wasn't familiar with. As he'd only been to a handful of floors, it wasn't like it was really a surprise, but he did appreciate knowing where he was going.

The short ride over, the elevator opened its doors, and both of them stepped out. It was impossible to go too far in any one direction without hitting one of the two doors that stood before them. Each door had a sign over the doorframe, one reading 'Loud' while the other read 'Quiet'. It seemed that the floor had been split in half.

There was a low, chatter filled hum coming from the loud side. It seemed almost muffled, like maybe that side of the floor was soundproofed which, upon second thought, it probably was. Zorua walked over to the quiet door and lifted one paw to point towards it. Touya supposed that, no matter how impressive the Pokemon's jumping and coordination skills were, turning a doorknob mid-air and without the use of fingers was probably too much to ask.

Turning the doorknob, he entered the quiet side of the floor. A notice was posted near the entrance asking him to close the door behind him gently, and after Zorua was in, he complied.

Zorua immediately set off towards the left, and since he seemed to know where he was going, Touya followed behind him. The hallways were quiet at first, but as he walked further he began to make out a noise that sounded like it could be music. Touya initially thought that it was coming from the other side and had somehow managed to sneak through the soundproofing, but it quickly became apparent that this was not the case. The music - and it was very clearly music by this point - was coming from within this side of the floor.

It sounded like a piano, and Touya couldn't tell if someone was actually playing it or if it was only a recording. He was inclined to think it was the former, because there was something about it that seemed... incomplete, almost. Like the person playing it didn't have a lot of practice.

Not that this lack of skill made the music unpleasant. It certainly wasn't the most complicated tune ever, but it was very pretty, and though it was obvious that the person was still learning, he still seemed to have some idea about what he was doing.

As he followed Zorua further, the music grew louder, until it plateaued at a level that, while perhaps a bit too loud for an area dubbed 'quiet', was still fairly reasonable. Zorua came to a door at the end of one of the hallways and plopped himself down beside it, making it obvious that this room was where he'd been leading Touya to. It was also very clearly the room where the music was coming from.

The door was almost completely closed, with just the barest sliver between it and the doorframe. Touya wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of barging in in the middle of a song, and since Zorua didn't seem like he was in a hurry, Touya decided to wait until the piece was done.

A note was played that Touya thought didn't really sound right, but he wasn't sure until the person - who was probably N, given that Zorua had picked this room to stop at - ceased playing, backed up a few notes, and attempted it again. If it were Touya, he'd probably keep on playing and maybe correct the error the next time he played the piece, but whoever was playing right now seemed determined to get it right before he moved on.

It was pretty admirable, actually, and it only convinced Touya further that it was N who was playing, just because it was so characteristic of him. Still, he wasn't aware that N was capable of playing any instrument, as he'd never mentioned it. Maybe it was a recent thing.

The piece ended about a minute later, and Touya quickly moved to open the door before another one could be started. As he'd expected, it was N who was sitting at the piano. Zorua practically flew in through the doorway, and his blur of movement was the first thing to catch N's attention. Zorua hopped up on the piano bench before jumping onto the instrument itself.

N turned away from Zorua, and his eyes fell on Touya. He didn't seem terribly surprised to see him, but given that he was probably the one who'd sent Zorua to get him in the first place, that was to be expected.

"That song was nice," Touya blurted out, because, really, he'd thought it was, and since Touya had no musical skills whatsoever, he was always impressed when someone was capable of producing music that was even remotely pretty.

"Thank you, but I made several mistakes." Though N seemed fairly matter-of-fact about it, Touya thought that he could detect a hint of disappointment.

"I know," Touya responded, and he definitely hadn't meant for that to come out so bluntly, but he wanted to make a point and, well, he'd already said it. "But I don't think that music has to be perfect for it to be good."

"Thank you," N repeated, only this time he smiled, and Touya had the feeling that the thank you was for something else entirely. "Though I do plan on improving, as I've only started playing recently."

"I think it's impressive that you're even trying to learn." Touya was about to go on further, but a question interrupted his thoughts. He walked towards the piano, as standing by the doorway put him at a sizable distance from N, and conversing from there felt somewhat awkward. N moved over on the bench, and, taking the cue, Touya sat down beside him. "Why is there a piano here?"

He realized a second later that he probably could've been a bit more specific - 'here' could mean either this room or headquarters as a whole, and he'd meant the latter - but N would probably get what he was asking. Touya just couldn't imagine N going out and buying a piano, even if, given its location, it seemed like it was for public use.

N frowned for a moment, and Touya was trying to figure out what could possibly be the problem with him asking about the piano's origin when N decided to answer the question. "It belonged to Ghetsis."

"I'm sorry," Touya immediately began, not exactly sure what he was apologizing for but aware of the fact that the topic of Ghetsis was probably best not brought up by accident.

"You do not need to be." N sounded vaguely apologetic himself, and Touya thought that it might have been because of how negatively he'd reacted to being reminded of Ghetsis. N glanced away for a second, as if remembering something, and Touya looked to N for an explanation; evidently, it was something at least somewhat pleasant, because N seemed marginally more relaxed. "When I was younger, I would occasionally listen to him play. It was..." N paused as he searched for the proper phrasing, "He was very talented."

"So it wasn't all bad. I mean, the time you spent with Ghetsis." Touya wasn't sure why he wasn't letting the subject drop, but it wasn't like the conversation had reached train wreck status yet, so he thought that it might be safe to continue for a little while longer.

"... No, it wasn't," N agreed, sounding like he was still just a little bit lost in thought. He was silent for a second, and Touya was trying to figure out what he was going to say next when he spoke."Did you see Crane's broadcast last night?"

Even though N was often a let's-get-down-to-business sort of person, the topic shift seemed pretty abrupt, and Touya was worried that he'd caused N to talk about something that he didn't want to.

But Touko always said that talking about something, even if it wasn't pleasant, was beneficial. Though considering how much she clearly liked to talk, he wasn't exactly sure how much stock he could put in that statement.

Touya nodded. "I missed the first few seconds, but I caught most of it. I don't like the idea of the government keeping everyone's DNA and fingerprints on file."

"Neither do I," N admitted. "However, that isn't the main reason why the broadcast was important." So Touya had been right in thinking that there was something more to the announcement than what had actually been said. He just couldn't think of what it could be, and though N was about to explain what was actually going on, Touya would've liked to have figured it out for himself beforehand.

* * *

**A/N**: I fully intended to have N talk about what was up with Crane's broadcast this chapter, but Ghetsis popped up and derailed the initial conversation enough so that that didn't happen. Sorry about that. ^^; On the plus side, it shouldn't be impossible to figure out what's going on, and it'll be revealed early next chapter anyway.


End file.
